Another Phosphate Plant lost as Nutrien White Springs announces closure with many layoffs
WCJB ABC News, November 5, 2026
Nutrien’s White Springs Phosphate mine and processing plant will close June 1, 2027 with 500 employees to lose their jobs. High sulfur prices have claimed yet another U.S. operation, as The Mosaic Company has already shuttered multiple phosphate facilities due to high sulfur costs. Nutrien will retain their phosphate business, but now with a single integrated complex at Aurora, North Carolina. In a major blow to the U.S. fertilizer market, the closure will remove 500,000 tons of P2O5 from the market, chiefly as MAP (monoammonium phosphate). It will also cut supply chains for key liquid fertilizer products such as super phosphoric acid and ammonium polyphosphate. The White Springs site will hold an estimated 80 million tons of phosphogypsum waste at closure. Travertine’s electrochemical process that upcycles sulfate waste into sulfuric acid and lime is a solution to valorize this waste material to alleviate sulfur prices, avoid historical sinkhole and aquifer contamination incidents, and provide much needed employment in the area.
