Benzinga | Feb 23, 2021 04:19PM EST

LSB Industries Says Began Phased Restart Of Its Pryor, Oklahoma Facility Following Extreme Cold Weather

LSB Industries, Inc. ("LSB" or "the Company"), (NYSE:LXU), today announced that on Sunday, February 21, 2021 it began the phased restart of its Pryor, OK facility ("Pryor"), which was taken out of service on February 12, 2021 after extreme cold weather caused a surge in natural gas prices in the region, along with the curtailment of gas distribution by the operator of the pipeline that supplies natural gas to Pryor.

As weather across the middle of the country has improved and temperatures have warmed, natural gas prices have normalized and supply volumes have been restored to levels required for full operation of the Company's facilities. Pryor is in the the process of restarting and LSB management expects the facility to return to pre-shutdown production volume levels as safely and as soon as practicable.

Also as a result of unprecedented cold weather conditions, on February 17, 2021, the primary natural gas supplier to LSB's El Dorado, AR facility ("El Dorado") asserted a claim of force majeure and materially restricted the supply of gas to El Dorado. However, effective today, the force majeure has been lifted and El Dorado's ammonia plant is currently in production and in process of ramping up to full rates.

Notably, the Company's Cherokee, AL facility was not materially impacted by the extreme cold weather and related natural gas price and supply issues and operated at targeted levels throughout February.