Nutrien is permanently shuttering its Trinidad nitrogen complex, putting 350 more jobs at risk. The government blames the company’s profit demands.
Canadian fertiliser giant Nutrien Limited announced Monday it will permanently shut down its Trinidad Nitrogen operations at the Point Lisas Industrial Estate in Couva, putting an estimated 350 additional jobs at risk and turning a year-long “controlled shutdown” that began in October 2025 into an indefinite closure. Energy Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal said the decision was not driven by a shortage of natural gas, but by Nutrien’s demand for a profit margin acceptable to its shareholders.
Moonilal said the National Gas Company had been negotiating with Nutrien since October 2025 and had even offered to purchase the complex outright, an invitation he said Nutrien declined to engage with on gas supply terms. “We are still in touch with Nutrien concerning this issue; they have taken a decision today for closure of the complex,” Moonilal said, adding that affected workers had reported to work Monday and were expected to do so Tuesday as well, with the formal separation process not yet underway. He said the government’s priority is to keep the facility, which comprises four ammonia plants and one urea plant, operational under Nutrien or a new investor, calling it a critical national asset.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the government should not be blamed for the shutdown, maintaining that the National Energy Corporation has a duty to safeguard its employees’ interests. Former prime minister and energy minister Stuart Young, now in Opposition, accused the Persad-Bissessar administration of mismanaging the energy sector, calling the closure “the first sign of collapse of the energy sector under the UNC Government.” Moonilal rejected the criticism, accusing the former PNM administration of failing over four years to renegotiate contractual arrangements with downstream port users at Point Lisas, and pointed to a series of industrial closures during the PNM’s own tenure, including ArcelorMittal Point Lisas and Central Trinidad Steel in 2016, the Petrotrin refinery and Yara Trinidad’s ammonia plant in 2018, and Atlantic LNG’s Train 1 in 2021.
The closure affects a facility that has supplied roughly 47% of U.S. ammonia imports between 2021 and 2024, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Before the shutdown, the complex produced about 85,000 tonnes of ammonia and 55,000 tonnes of urea monthly, exported to 30 countries.