(Bloomberg) --

Another European fertilizer producer is reducing output due to soaring natural gas prices, exacerbating already tight supply across the continent. 

Austria-based chemicals firm Borealis AG is curtailing its production of ammonia in Europe and will “further analyze the situation” regarding its plants in Austria, France and the Netherlands, a spokeswoman said Thursday. The product is used to make nitrogen fertilizers, which have already seen spiking prices as manufacturers deal with dramatically higher costs for gas, their main feedstock.

In the U.K., high gas prices last week forced a fertilizer maker to close two plants that make carbon dioxide as a byproduct, posing an imminent threat to the food industry, which uses the gas widely.

The surge in fertilizer prices risks boosting costs to produce agricultural commodities and could add to global food inflation. The U.K. government recently reached a deal to restart a CF Industries Holdings Inc. plant that was shuttered by the energy crunch. However, Norway’s Yara International ASA still announced production cutbacks.

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