(Bloomberg) -- CF Industries Holdings Inc. plans to close one of its UK fertilizer plants for good as it struggles with high energy costs.

The company is proposing to permanently shutter its Ince facility as it restructures operations in Britain, it said Wednesday. The site, which hasn’t produced ammonia since September, was one of CF’s plants that were halted last year on the back of soaring gas costs. That prompted the government to step in to help keep some operations going.

The move to close the Ince factory highlights the challenge that expensive gas poses to European industries. The threat to fertilizer output has also been bad news for the food and drink sector, because the factories produce carbon dioxide as a byproduct. That gas is used to stun pigs and chickens for slaughter, extend the shelf life of fresh food and give beer and soda their fizz.

Fertilizer output at CF’s Billingham and Ince sites has provided as much as 60% of Britain’s CO2 production.

Gas prices have eased from a record, but are still 50% above usual for this time of year. High prices are expected to continue into winter and the risk still remains of further supply cutoffs from Russia.

CF said it would focus its UK manufacturing operations at its Billingham plant, which is the UK’s largest ammonia, ammonium nitrate and CO2 site. That facility is better positioned for long-term sustainability as it has sufficient capacity to meet all domestic demand, it said.

The closure of Ince could lead to as many as 283 redundancies, the company said.

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