UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023

Or

For the transition period from __________ to __________

Commission File Number: 1-7677

LSB INDUSTRIES, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (405) 235-4546

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports submit such files). ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). ☐ Yes ☒ No

The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, computed by reference to the price at which the voting common stock was last sold as of June 30, 2023, was approximately $518 million. As a result, the Registrant is an accelerated filer as of December 31, 2023. For purposes of this computation, shares of the Registrant’s common stock beneficially owned by each executive officer and director of the Registrant, LSB Funding LLC and SBT Investors LLC were deemed to be owned by affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2023. Such determination should not be deemed an admission that such executive officers, directors or entity of our common stock are, in fact, affiliates of the Registrant or affiliates as of the date of this Form 10-K.

As of March 1, 2024, the Registrant had 72,995,775 shares of common stock outstanding.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

All references to “LSB Industries,” “LSB,” “the Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to LSB Industries, Inc. and its subsidiaries, except where the context makes clear that the reference is only to LSB Industries, Inc. itself and not its subsidiaries. Notes referenced throughout this document refer to consolidated financial statement footnote disclosures that are found in Item 8 of this report.

LSB is a Delaware corporation, formed in 1968, and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. LSB is committed to playing a leadership role in the energy transition through the production of low and no carbon products that build, feed and power the world. We seek to accomplish this through the manufacture and marketing of essential products for the agricultural, industrial and mining markets, and in the future, energy markets, all with an emphasis on a culture of excellence in customer experience. The Company manufactures ammonia and ammonia-related products in El Dorado, Arkansas (the “El Dorado Facility”), Cherokee, Alabama (the “Cherokee Facility”), and Pryor, Oklahoma (the “Pryor Facility”), and operates a facility on behalf of Covestro LLC (“Covestro”) in Baytown, Texas (the “Baytown Facility”). Our products are sold through distributors and directly to end customers throughout the United States and other parts of North America.

Our Business

Our business manufactures products for three principal markets:

The products we manufacture at our facilities are primarily derived from natural gas (a raw material feedstock). Our facilities and production processes have been designed to produce products that are marketable at nearly each stage of production. This design has allowed us to develop and deploy a business model optimizing the mix of products to capture the value opportunities in the end markets we serve with a focus on balancing our production.

The chart below highlights representative products and applications in each of our end markets.

The following table summarizes net sales information relating to our products:

For information regarding our net sales, operating results and total assets for the past three fiscal years, see the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.

Our Strategy

We aim to be a leader in the energy transition in the chemical industry through the production of low and no carbon products that build, feed and power the world. We plan to accomplish this by leveraging our existing business platform and portfolio of assets to produce low carbon products, utilizing our significant manufacturing expertise and experience in ammonia and hydrogen plant operations, optimizing our liquidity and free cash flows to generate growth, and creating a network of partners that bring additional knowledge, expertise and relationships.

With respect to our current portfolio of products, we pursue a strategy of balancing the sale of product as fertilizer into the agriculture markets at spot prices or short duration pre-sales and developing industrial and mining customers that purchase substantial quantities of products, primarily under contractual obligations and/or pricing arrangements that generally provide for the pass through of some raw material and other manufacturing costs. We believe this product and market diversification strategy allows us to have more consistent levels of production compared to some of our competitors and helps reduce the volatility risk inherent in the prices of our raw material feedstock and/or the changes in demand for our products.

The strategy of developing industrial and mining customers helps to moderate the risk inherent in the agricultural markets where spot sales prices of our agricultural products may not have a correlation to the natural gas feedstock costs but rather reflect market conditions for like and competing nitrogen sources. This volatility of sales pricing in our agricultural products may, from time to time, compromise our ability to recover our full cost to produce the product. Additionally, the lack of sufficient non-seasonal agricultural sales volume to operate our manufacturing facilities at optimum levels can preclude us from balancing production and storage capabilities. Looking forward, we remain focused on upgrading margins by maximizing downstream production. Our strategy calls for further development of industrial customers who assume the volatility risk associated with the raw material costs and mitigate the effects of seasonality in the agricultural sector.

Our strategy also includes evaluating further investments in low carbon opportunities, potential acquisitions of strategic assets or companies, mergers with other companies and investment in additional production capacity where we believe those acquisitions, mergers or expansion of production capacity will enhance the value of the Company and provide appropriate returns.

Key Operating Initiatives for 2024

As discussed in more detail under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Key Operating Initiatives,” we believe our future results of operations and financial condition will depend significantly on our ability to successfully implement the following key initiatives:

As for our liquidity, we had approximately $353 million of combined cash, restricted cash, short-term investments and borrowing capacity at the end of 2023, which we believe provides us with ample liquidity to fund our operations and meet our current obligations. Also see discussions in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Liquidity and Capital Resources”.

Our Competitive Strengths

Strategically Located Chemical Assets and Long-Standing Customer Relationships

Our business benefits from highly advantageous locations with logistical and distribution benefits. We have access to the Nustar ammonia pipeline from the U.S. Gulf at our El Dorado Facility, which provides low-cost transportation to distribution points. The El Dorado Facility also has rail access providing favorable freight logistics to our industrial and agricultural customers and cost advantaged when selling a number of our products West of the Mississippi River. Our Cherokee Facility is located east of the Mississippi River, allowing it to reach customers that are not freight logical for others. Our Cherokee Facility sits adjacent to the Tennessee River, providing barge receipt and shipping access, in addition to truck and rail delivery access. Our Pryor Facility is located in the heart of the Southern Plains with strategic rail and truck delivery access.

Advantaged Raw Material Cost Position

We have access to low-cost, relative to international markets, natural gas in the United States, which allows for significant cost advantages as compared to comparable production facilities in Europe and other parts of the world.

Diversified Sources of Revenue

Our business serves a broad range of end markets, which we believe diminishes the cyclicality of our financial performance. Our business serves the agricultural, industrial and mining markets. The flexible nature of our production process and storage capability allows us the ability to shift our product mix based on end market demand.

Agricultural Market Conditions

As discussed in more detail under “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Key Industry Factors”, the price at which our agricultural products are ultimately sold depends on numerous factors, including the supply and demand for nitrogen fertilizers which, in turn, depends upon world grain demand and production levels, the cost and availability of transportation and storage, weather conditions, competitive pricing and the availability of imports. Additionally, expansions or upgrades of competitors’ facilities and international and domestic political and economic developments continue to play an important role in the global nitrogen fertilizer industry economics. These factors can affect, in addition to selling prices, the level of inventories in the market which can cause price volatility and affect product margins.

Looking forward to 2024, we believe that while prices for ammonia are anticipated to moderate, prices for other nitrogen products such as urea and UAN could see improvements due to Chinese urea export limitations in the first half of 2024, which should support urea prices and indirectly support UAN prices through the Spring 2024 planting season. Fertilizer prices, however, should remain attractive to retailers and farmers during the 2024 planting season which, combined with anticipated high planting levels in the U.S., should lead to healthy demand for nitrogen fertilizers. Additionally, we believe that corn prices will remain at a level that will further support demand for fertilizers during 2024.

Agricultural Products

We produce and sell UAN, HDAN and ammonia, all of which are nitrogen-based fertilizers. We sell these agricultural products to farmers, ranchers, fertilizer dealers and distributors primarily in the ranch land and grain production markets in the U.S. Our nitrogen-based fertilizers are used to grow food crops, biofuel feedstock crops, pasture land for grazing livestock and forage production. We maintain long-term relationships with wholesale agricultural distributors and retailers and also sell directly to agricultural end-users through our network of wholesale and retail distribution centers.

The price at which our agricultural products are ultimately sold depends on numerous factors, including the supply and demand for nitrogen fertilizers which, in turn, depends upon world grain demand and production levels, the cost and availability of transportation and storage, weather conditions, competitive pricing and the availability of imports. Additionally, expansions or upgrades of competitors’ facilities combined with international and domestic political and economic developments continue to play an important role in the global nitrogen fertilizer industry economics. These factors can affect, in addition to selling prices, the level of inventories in the market which can cause price volatility and affect product margins.

We sell our agricultural products at the current spot market price for either immediate shipment or as part of a forward sales commitments, depending on fertilizer seasonality and our forward pricing point of view.

Industrial and Mining Market Conditions

As discussed in more detail in “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations–Key Industry Factors,” in our industrial markets, our sales volumes are typically driven by changes in general economic conditions, energy prices, metals market prices and our contractual arrangements with certain large customers. In our mining markets, our sales volumes are typically driven by changes in the overall North American consumption levels of mining products that can be impacted by weather. Additionally, changes in natural gas prices and demand in renewable power sources, such as wind and solar in the electrical generation sector, will impact demand for our mining products and impact competition within the other sectors of this market.

Looking forward to 2024, despite global economic challenges, our industrial business has been solid and demand for our products is steady, supported by the resilience of the U.S. economy. Nitric acid demand has remained stable as global producers have shifted production from international facilities to their U.S. operations in order to take advantage of lower domestic input costs. Demand for AN for use in mining applications has remained steady due to attractive market fundamentals for quarrying and aggregate production and U.S. metals offsetting any reductions resulting from lower coal production. While economic concerns persist, we believe that we have a meaningful degree of downside protection from the potential impacts of a recession given our diverse customer base, the nature of our contracts and our ability to shift our production mix to products where demand and pricing are strongest.

Industrial and Mining Products

We manufacture and sell industrial acids and other chemical products primarily to the polyurethane intermediates, paper, fibers, emission control, and electronics industries. In addition, we produce and sell blended and regular nitric acid and industrial and high purity ammonia for many specialty applications, including the reduction of air emissions from power plants.

Sales of our industrial and mining products are generally made to customers pursuant to sales contracts or pricing arrangements on terms that include the cost of the primary raw materials as a pass-through component in the sales price. These contractual sales stabilize the effect of commodity cost changes and fluctuations in demand for these products due to the cyclicality of the end markets.

We operate the Baytown Facility on behalf of Covestro and we believe it is one of the largest and most technologically advanced nitric acid manufacturing units in the U.S. We operate and maintain this facility pursuant to a long-term operating contract. The term of this agreement runs until October 2029 with options for renewal.

Our industrial products sales volumes are dependent upon general economic conditions primarily in the housing, automotive, and paper industries. Our sale prices generally vary with the market price of ammonia, sulfur or natural gas, as applicable, in our pricing arrangements with customers.

Our industrial business competes based upon service, price and location of production and distribution sites, product quality and performance and provides inventory management as part of the value-added services offered to certain customers.

We also produce and sell LDAN, HDAN and AN solution to the mining industry, which are primarily used as AN fuel oil and specialty emulsions for usage in the quarry and the construction industries and for metals mining. We have signed long-term contracts with certain customers that provide for the annual sale of LDAN mostly under natural gas cost pass through pricing arrangements. One of our customers has a plant located at our El Dorado Facility.

Raw Materials

The products we manufacture at our facilities are primarily derived from natural gas. This raw material feedstock is a commodity and subject to price fluctuations. Natural gas is the primary raw material for producing ammonia, UAN, nitric acid and acid blends and other products at our El Dorado, Cherokee and Pryor Facilities. During 2023, we purchased approximately 29.8 million MMBtus of natural gas.

The chemical facilities’ natural gas feedstock requirements are generally purchased at spot market price. Periodically, we enter into volume purchase commitments and/or forward contracts to lock in the cost of certain of the expected natural gas requirements primarily to match quantities needed to produce product that has been sold forward. As of December 31, 2023, we did not have any volume purchase commitments or forward contracts.

See further discussion relating to the outlook for our business under “Key Industry Factors.”

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive market with many other larger chemical companies, such as CF Industries Holdings, Inc., CVR Partners, Dyno Nobel, a subsidiary of Incitec Pivot Limited, Eurochem North America, Helm AG, Koch Industries, Macro-Source L.L.C., Nutrien, Orica Limited, and Yara International (some of whom are our customers), many of whom have greater financial and other resources than we do. We believe that competition within the markets we serve is primarily based upon service, price, location of production and distribution sites, and product quality and performance.

NOL Rights Agreement

On August 22, 2023, we entered into an Amended and Restated Section 382 Rights Agreement (as amended, the “NOL Rights Agreement”), which amended and restated the Section 382 Rights Agreement, dated as of July 6, 2020 (the “Original Rights Agreement”), between LSB and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., as rights agent.

During 2023, the Original Rights Agreement was ratified by our shareholders at our annual meeting of shareholders held on May 11, 2023. The NOL Rights Agreement remains in effect as of December 31, 2023.

The purpose of the NOL Rights Agreement is to facilitate our ability to preserve our NOLs and other tax attributes in order to be able to offset potential future income taxes for federal income tax purposes. Our ability to use these NOLs and other tax attributes would be

substantially limited if we experience an “ownership change,” as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). A company generally experiences an ownership change if the percentage of the value of its stock owned by certain 5% shareholders, as defined in Section 382 of the Code, increases by more than 50% points over a rolling three-year period. The NOL Rights Agreement is intended to reduce the likelihood of an ownership change under Section 382 of the Code by deterring any person (as defined in the NOL Rights Agreement) or group of affiliated or associated persons (“Group”) from acquiring beneficial ownership of 4.9% or more of our outstanding common shares.

The rights issued under the NOL Rights Agreement will expire on the earliest to occur of (i) the close of business on the day following the certification of the voting results of our 2024 annual meeting of stockholders, or other duly held stockholders’ meeting, (ii) the date on which our Board determines in its sole discretion that (x) the NOL Rights Agreement is no longer necessary for the preservation of material valuable NOLs or tax attributes or (y) the NOLs and tax attributes have been fully utilized and may no longer be carried forward and (iii) the close of business on August 22, 2026.

Our Board may, in its discretion, determine that a person, entity or a certain transaction is exempt from the operation of the NOL Rights Agreement or amend the terms of the rights.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2023, we employed 586 persons, 163 whom are represented by unions under collective bargaining agreements. We have three 3-year union contracts which were each successfully ratified in 2022.

Oversight & Management

Our success depends on the capabilities and strength of our workforce. Our Chief Human Resources Officer is responsible for developing and executing our human capital strategy. This strategy includes the acquisition, development, and retention of talent as well as the enhancement of benefits and employee experience to deliver on our overall strategy. Our Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) regularly updates our Board of Directors (“Board”) on the operation and status of these human capital activities including:

Government Laws and Regulations

Our facilities and operations are subject to numerous federal, state and local laws and regulations, including matters regarding environmental, health and safety, many of which provide for certain performance obligations, substantial fines and criminal sanctions for violations. Certain of these laws and regulations impose strict liability as well as joint and several liability for costs required to remediate and restore sites where hazardous substances, hydrocarbons or solid wastes have been stored or released. We may be required to remediate contaminated properties currently or formerly owned or operated by us or facilities of third parties that received waste generated by our operations regardless of whether such contamination resulted from the conduct of others or from consequences of our own actions that were in compliance with all applicable laws at the time those actions were taken.

There can be no assurance that we will not incur material costs or liabilities in complying with such laws or in paying fines or penalties for violation of such laws. Our insurance may not cover all environmental risks and costs or may not provide sufficient coverage if an environmental claim is made against us. These laws and regulations (including enforcement policies thereunder) have in the past resulted, and could in the future result, in significant compliance expenses, cleanup costs (for our sites or third-party sites where our wastes were disposed of), penalties or other liabilities relating to the handling, manufacture, use, emission, discharge or

disposal of hazardous or toxic materials at or from our facilities or the use or disposal of certain of its chemical products. Historically, our subsidiaries have incurred significant expenditures in order to comply with these laws and regulations and are reasonably expected to do so in the future. We will also be obligated to manage certain discharge water outlets and monitor groundwater contaminants at our chemical facilities should we discontinue the operations of a facility.

Also see discussions concerning our risk factors under Item 1A of this report.

Available Information

We make available free of charge through our Internet website (www.lsbindustries.com) or by calling Investor Relations (405) 510-3550 our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and, if applicable, amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. In addition to the reports filed or furnished with the SEC, we publicly disclose material information from time to time in press releases, at annual meetings of stockholders, in publicly accessible conferences and investor presentations, and through our website. The information included on our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risks Relating to Our Liquidity

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our debt and may be required to take other actions to satisfy the obligations under our debt agreements, which may not be successful.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on our debt obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance, prevailing economic and competitive conditions, and certain financial, business and other factors, some of which may be beyond our control. We may not be able to maintain a level of cash flows sufficient to pay the principal and interest on our debt, including the $575 million principal amount of our 6.25% senior secured notes due 2028 (the “Senior Secured Notes”).

If cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and will need to seek additional capital through the issuance of debt, the issuance of equity, asset sales or a combination of the foregoing. If we are unsuccessful, we will need to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, or to dispose of other assets or operations, seek additional capital, or restructure or refinance debt. These alternative measures may not be successful, may not be completed on economically attractive terms, or may not be adequate for us to meet our debt obligations when due. Additionally, our debt agreements limit the use of the proceeds from many dispositions of assets or operations. As a result, we may not be permitted to use the proceeds from these dispositions to satisfy our debt obligations. If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default and the outstanding principal and interest on our debt could be declared to be due and payable, in which case we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation or required to substantially restructure or alter our business operations or debt obligations. In such an event, we may not have sufficient assets to repay all of our debt.

Further, if we suffer or appear to suffer from a lack of available liquidity, the evaluation of our creditworthiness by counterparties and rating agencies and the willingness of third parties to do business with us could be materially and adversely affected. In particular, our credit ratings could be lowered, suspended or withdrawn entirely at any time by the rating agencies. Downgrades in our long-term debt ratings generally cause borrowing costs to increase and the potential pool of investors and funding sources to decrease and could trigger liquidity demands pursuant to the terms of contracts, leases or other agreements. Any future transactions by us, including the issuance of additional debt, the sale of any operating assets, or any other transaction to manage our liquidity, could result in temporary or permanent downgrades of our credit ratings.

Our substantial indebtedness level could limit our financial and operating activities, and adversely affect our ability to incur additional debt to fund future needs.

We currently have a substantial amount of indebtedness. As a result, this level could, among other things:

Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our liquidity, operating results and financial condition.

Our debt agreements and the Exchange Agreement contain covenants and restrictions that could restrict or limit our financial and business operations. A breach of these covenants or restrictions could result in an event of default under one or more of our debt agreements or contracts at different entities within our capital structure, including as a result of cross acceleration or default provisions.

Our debt agreements and the Exchange Agreement contain various covenants and other restrictions that, among other things, limit flexibility in operating our businesses. A breach of any of these covenants or restrictions could result in a significant portion of our debt becoming due and payable or could result in significant contractual liability. These covenants and other restrictions limit our ability to, among other things:

The New Revolving Credit Facility Loan also contains certain affirmative covenants and requires the borrowers to comply with a fixed charge coverage ratio (as defined in the New Revolving Credit Facility Loan) if their excess availability (as defined in the New Revolving Credit Facility Loan) falls below a certain level.

These covenants and restrictions could affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to react to market conditions or take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise. Additionally, our ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond our control, including general economic and credit conditions and industry downturns.

In addition, certain failures to make payments when due on, or the acceleration of, significant indebtedness constitutes a default under some of our debt instruments, including the Indenture governing the Senior Secured Notes. Further, a breach of any of the covenants or restrictions in a debt instrument could result in an event of default under such debt instrument. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under one of these debt instruments, our lenders or noteholders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under such debt instrument to be immediately due and payable and/or terminate all commitments to extend further credit. Such actions by those lenders or noteholders could cause cross defaults or accelerations under our other debt. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lenders or noteholders could proceed against any collateral granted to them to secure such debt. In the case of a default under debt that is guaranteed, holders of such debt could also seek to enforce the guarantees. If lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of all borrowings, we would likely not have sufficient assets and funds to repay those borrowings. Such occurrence could result in our or our applicable subsidiary going into bankruptcy, liquidation or insolvency.

The age of our chemical manufacturing facilities increases the risk for unplanned downtime, which may be significant.

Our business is comprised of operating units of various ages and levels of automated control. While we have continued to make significant annual capital improvements, potential age or control related issues have occurred in the past and may occur in the future, which could cause damage to the equipment and ancillary facilities. As a result, we have experienced and may continue to experience additional downtime at our chemical facilities in the future.

The equipment required for the manufacture of our products is specialized, and the time for replacement of such equipment can be lengthy, resulting in extended downtime in the affected unit. In addition, the cost for such equipment could be influenced by changes in regulatory policies (including tariffs) of foreign governments, as well as the U.S. laws and policies affecting foreign trade and investment.

Although we use various reliability and inspection programs and maintain a significant inventory of spare equipment, which are intended to mitigate the extent of production losses, unplanned outages may still occur. As a result, these planned and unplanned downtime events at our chemical facilities have in the past and could in the future adversely affect our liquidity, operating results and financial condition.

Risks Relating to Our Business

Pandemics or other public health crises have and may in the future disrupt our business, which could adversely affect our financial performance.

The impact of global pandemics will depend on future developments that are uncertain and cannot be accurately predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the pandemic and the actions to contain the pandemic or treat its impact. In addition, a significant downturn in global economic growth, or recessionary conditions in major geographic regions as a result of a resurgence of the pandemic or the emergence of a similar pandemic, may lead to reduced demand for a portion or all our products. Legislative, regulatory, judicial or social influences related to the pandemic may affect our financial performance and our ability to conduct our business.

An extended period of remote work arrangements due to a pandemic or other public health crises, including as a result of government and business responses to such events, could also exacerbate cybersecurity risks. Our business depends on the proper functioning and availability of our information technology platform, including communications and data processing systems. We are also required to effect electronic transmissions with third parties including clients, vendors and others with whom we do business, and with our Board. We believe we have implemented appropriate security measures, controls and procedures to safeguard our information technology systems and to prevent unauthorized access to such systems and any data processed or stored in such systems, and we periodically evaluate and test the adequacy of such systems, measures, and controls and procedures; however, there can be no guarantee that such systems, measures, controls and procedures will be effective, that we will be able to establish secure capabilities with all of third

parties, or that third parties will have appropriate controls in place to protect the confidentiality of our information. Security breaches could expose us to a risk of loss or misuse of our information, litigation and potential liability.

Terrorist attacks and other acts of violence or war, such as Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and natural disasters (such as hurricanes, etc.), have negatively affected and could negatively affect U.S. and foreign companies, the financial markets, the industries where we operate, our operations and our profitability.

Terrorist attacks in the U.S and elsewhere, including Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and natural disasters (such as hurricanes or pandemic health crises) have in the past and can in the future negatively affect our operations. We cannot predict further terrorist attacks and natural disasters in the U.S. and elsewhere. These attacks or natural disasters have contributed to economic instability in the U.S. and elsewhere, and further acts of terrorism, violence, war or natural disasters could affect the industries where we operate, our ability to purchase raw materials, our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, terrorist attacks and natural disasters may directly affect our physical facilities, especially our chemical facilities, or those of our suppliers or customers and could affect our sales, our production capability and our ability to deliver products to our customers. In the past, hurricanes affecting the Gulf Coast of the U.S. have negatively affected our operations and those of our customers. As previously noted, some scientists have concluded that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts and floods and other climatic events. If any such effects, whether anthropogenic or otherwise, were to occur in areas where we or our clients operate, they could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The Russian invasion of the Ukraine may expand into a broader international conflict that could adversely affect multiple channels of commerce and markets.

While the occupation of Ukraine has had an effect on commodity prices and fertilizer supply (primarily ammonia and urea from Russia), there is no guarantee that the current conflict will not draw military intervention from other countries or further retaliation from Russia, which, in turn, could lead to a much larger conflict. It is possible that supply chain, trade routes and the markets we currently serve could be further adversely affected, which, in turn, could materially, adversely affect our business operations and financial performance.

A major factor underlying the current high level of demand for our nitrogen-based fertilizer products is the production of ethanol. A decrease in ethanol production or an increase in ethanol imports could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and ability to make cash distributions.

A major factor underlying the solid level of demand for our nitrogen-based fertilizer products is the production of ethanol in the United States and the use of corn in ethanol production. Ethanol production in the United States is highly dependent upon a myriad of federal statutes and regulations and is made significantly more competitive by various federal and state incentives and mandated usage of renewable fuels pursuant to the federal renewable fuel standards (“RFS”). To date, the RFS has been satisfied primarily with fuel ethanol blended into gasoline. However, a number of factors, including the continuing “food versus fuel” debate and studies showing that expanded ethanol usage may increase the level of greenhouse gases in the environment as well as be unsuitable for small engine use, have resulted in calls to reduce subsidies for ethanol, allow increased ethanol imports and to repeal or waive (in whole or in part) the current RFS, any of which could have an adverse effect on corn-based ethanol production, planted corn acreage and fertilizer demand. Therefore, ethanol incentive programs may not be renewed, or if renewed, they may be renewed on terms significantly less favorable to ethanol producers when compared with current incentive programs. Consequently, a decrease in ethanol production or an increase in ethanol imports could have a material adverse effect on our overall business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

We are reliant on a limited number of key facilities.

Our nitrogen production is concentrated in four separate complexes. The suspension of operations at any of these complexes, or significant impacts on any of their operations as a result of a supply chain disruption, could adversely affect our ability to produce our products and fulfill our commitments and could have a material adverse effect on liquidity, financial condition, results of operations and business.

Seasonality can adversely affect our business.

If seasonal demand is less than we expect, we may be left with excess inventory that will have to be stored (in which case our results of operations will be negatively affected by any related increased storage costs) or liquidated (in which case the selling price may be below our production, procurement and storage costs). The risks associated with excess inventory and product shortages are exacerbated by the volatility of natural gas and nitrogen fertilizer prices and the relatively brief periods during which farmers can apply nitrogen fertilizers. If prices for our products rapidly decrease, we may be subject to inventory write-downs, adversely affecting our operating results. If seasonal demand is greater than we expect, we may experience product shortages, and customers of ours may turn to our competitors for products that they would otherwise have purchased from us.

Weather conditions adversely affect our business.

The products (primarily agricultural) produced and sold by us have been in the past, and could be in the future, materially affected by adverse weather conditions (such as excessive rain or drought) in the primary markets for our fertilizer and related agricultural products. In addition, weather can cause an interruption to the operations of our chemical facilities. Many scientists have concluded that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts and floods and other climatic events. These climate changes might also occur as the result of other phenomena that human activity is unable to influence, including changes in solar activity and volcanic activity. Regardless of the cause, if any of these adverse weather events occur, or occur with greater frequency, during the primary seasons for sales of our agricultural products (March-June and September-November), this could have a material adverse effect on our agricultural sales and our financial condition and results of operations.

Climate change may adversely affect our business.

Over the course of the past several years, global climate conditions have become increasingly inconsistent, volatile and unpredictable. Many of the regions in which we do business have variously experienced excessive moisture, cold, drought and/or heat of an unprecedented nature at various times of the year. In some cases, these conditions have either reduced or obviated the need for our products, particularly in the agriculture space, whether pre-plant, at-plant, post-emergent or at harvest. Due to the unpredictable nature of these conditions, we have observed growers and distributors becoming increasingly conservative in procurement practices and the accumulation of inventory. Further, the unpredictable nature of climactic change has made it increasingly difficult to forecast market demand and, consequently, financial performance, from year-to-year. There is no guarantee that climate change or its impacts will abate in the near future, and it is possible that such change will continue to hinder, or significantly further hinder, our ability to forecast sales performance with accuracy and otherwise adversely affect our financial performance.

Our business and customers are sensitive to adverse economic cycles.

Our business can be affected by cyclical factors such as inflation, currency exchange rates, global energy policy and costs, regulatory policies (including tariffs), global market conditions and economic downturns in specific industries. Certain sales are sensitive to the level of activity in the agricultural, mining, automotive and housing industries. Therefore, substantial changes in these factors could adversely affect our operating results, liquidity, financial condition and capital resources.

There is intense competition in the markets we serve.

Substantially all of the markets in which we participate are highly competitive with respect to product quality, price, distribution, service, and reliability. We compete with many companies, domestic and foreign, that have greater financial, marketing and other resources. Competitive factors could require us to reduce prices or increase spending on product development, marketing and sales, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

We compete with many U.S. producers and producers in other countries, including state-owned and government-subsidized entities. Some competitors have greater total resources and are less dependent on earnings from chemical sales, which make them less vulnerable to industry downturns and better positioned to pursue new expansion and development opportunities. Our competitive position could suffer to the extent we are not able to expand our own resources sufficiently either through investments in new or existing operations or through acquisitions, joint ventures or partnerships. An inability to compete successfully could result in the loss of customers, which could adversely affect our sales and profitability.

An increase of imported agricultural products could adversely affect our business.

Russia, Ukraine and Trinidad have substantial capacity to produce and export fertilizers. Producers in these countries also benefit from below-market prices for natural gas, due to government regulation and other factors.

In addition, producers in China have substantial capacity to produce and export urea. Depending on various factors, including prevailing prices from other exporters, the price of coal and regulatory policies, including the price of China’s export tariff, higher volumes of urea from China could be imported into the U.S. at prices that could have an adverse effect on the selling prices of other nitrogen products, including the nitrogen products we manufacture and sell.

A substantial portion of our sales is dependent upon a limited number of customers.

For 2023, five customers accounted for approximately 32% of our consolidated net sales. The loss of, or a material reduction in purchase levels by, one or more of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity if we are unable to replace a customer with other sales on substantially similar terms.

A change in the volume of products that our customers purchase on a forward basis, or the percentage of our sales volume that is sold to our customers on a forward basis, could increase our exposure to fluctuations in our profit margins and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

From time-to-time, we offer our customers the opportunity to purchase products from us on a forward basis at prices and delivery dates we propose. Under our forward sales programs, customers generally make an initial cash down payment at the time of order and pay the remaining portion of the contract sales under their usual invoice terms when the performance obligation is satisfied. Forward sales improve our liquidity due to the cash payments received from customers in advance of shipment of the product and allow us to improve our production scheduling and planning and the utilization of our manufacturing and distribution assets. Any cash payments received in advance from customers in connection with forward sales are reflected on our consolidated balance sheets as a current liability until the related performance obligations are satisfied, which can take up to several months. We believe the ability to purchase products on a forward basis is most appealing to our customers during periods of generally increasing prices for nitrogen fertilizers. Our customers may be less willing, or even unwilling, to purchase products on a forward basis during periods of generally decreasing or stable prices or during periods of relatively high fertilizer prices due to the expectation of lower prices in the future or limited capital resources. In periods of rising fertilizer prices, selling our nitrogen fertilizers on a forward basis may result in lower profit margins than if we had not sold fertilizer on a forward basis. Conversely, in periods of declining fertilizer prices, selling our nitrogen fertilizers on a forward basis may result in higher profit margins than if we had not sold fertilizer on a forward basis. In addition, fixing the selling prices of our products, often months in advance of their ultimate delivery to customers, typically causes our reported selling prices and margins to differ from spot market prices and margins available at the time the performance obligation is satisfied.

Domestic and regional inflation trends, increased interest rates and other factors could lead to the erosion of economies and adversely impact us.

Both the U.S. and many other countries are experiencing inflation, which, in turn, is leading to increase costs in multiple industry segments, including agriculture and related industries. The persistence of inflation has led central bankers to increase interest rates within their regions. There is no guarantee that these measures will arrest the inflationary trend. Further, these factors, taken together with reduced productivity and constraints on the labor supply could lead to recessionary periods in the regions in which the Company does business. While we will take measures within our control to manage the effects of inflation, higher interest rates and other factors, ultimately, they are outside of our control. Further, the persistence and/or severity of one or more of them could adversely affect our financial performance and/or operations.

Cost and the lack of availability of raw materials could materially affect our profitability and liquidity.

Our sales and profits are heavily affected by the costs and availability of primary raw materials. These primary raw materials are typically subject to considerable price volatility, and recent global supply chain disruptions and increased inflation in the United States have led to further heightened volatility. Historically, when there have been rapid increases in the cost of these primary raw materials, we have sometimes been unable to timely increase our sales prices to cover all of the higher costs incurred. While we periodically enter into futures/forward contracts to economically hedge against price increases in certain of these raw materials, there can be no assurance that we will effectively manage against price fluctuations in those raw materials.

Natural gas represents the primary raw material feedstock in the production of most of our chemical products. Although we enter into contracts with certain customers that provide for the pass-through of raw material costs, we have a substantial amount of sales that do not provide for the pass-through of raw material costs. Also, the spot sales prices of our agricultural products may not correlate to the cost of natural gas but rather reflect market conditions for similar and competing nitrogen sources. This lack of correlation can compromise our ability to recover our full cost to produce the products in this market. As a result, in the future, we may not be able to pass along to all of our customers the full amount of any increases in raw material costs. Future price fluctuations in our raw materials may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.

Additionally, we depend on certain vendors to deliver natural gas and other key components that are required in the production of our products. Any disruption in the supply of natural gas and other key components could result in lost production or delayed shipments.

The price of natural gas in North America and worldwide has been volatile in recent years and had declined on average due in part to the development of significant natural gas reserves, including shale gas, and the rapid improvement in shale gas extraction techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. However, recent disruptions in the global supply chain may continue to have an impact in the near term in fiscal year 2024. Future production of natural gas from shale formations could be reduced by regulatory changes that restrict drilling or hydraulic fracturing or increase its cost or by reduction in oil exploration and development prompted by lower oil prices and resulting in production of less associated natural gas. Additionally, increased demand for natural gas, particularly in the Gulf Coast Region, due to increased industrial demand and increased natural gas exports could result in increased natural gas prices.

We have suspended in the past, and could suspend in the future, production at our chemical facilities due to, among other things, the high cost or lack of availability of natural gas and other key components, which could adversely affect our competitiveness in the markets we serve. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be materially affected in the

future by the lack of availability of natural gas and other key components and increase costs relating to the purchase of natural gas and other key components.

Our business is subject to risks involving derivatives and the risk that our hedging activities might not be effective.

We may utilize natural gas derivatives to economically hedge our financial exposure to the price volatility of natural gas, the principal raw material used in the production of nitrogen-based products. We may use futures, financial swaps and option contracts traded in the over-the-counter markets or on exchanges to hedge our risk. Our use of derivatives can result in volatility in reported earnings due to the unrealized mark-to-market adjustments that occur from changes in the value of the derivatives that do not qualify for, or to which we do not apply, hedge accounting. To the extent that our derivative positions lose value, we may be required to post collateral with our counterparties, adversely affecting our liquidity. We have also used fixed-price, physical purchase and sales contracts to hedge our exposure to natural gas price volatility. Hedging arrangements are imperfect and unhedged risks will always exist. In addition, our hedging activities may themselves give rise to various risks that could adversely affect us. For example, we are exposed to counterparty credit risk when our derivatives are in a net asset position. The counterparties to our derivatives are multi-national commercial banks, major financial institutions or large energy companies. Our liquidity could be negatively impacted by a counterparty default on settlement of one or more of our derivative financial instruments or by the trigger of any cross-default provisions or credit support requirements. Additionally, the International Swaps and Derivative Association master netting arrangements for most of our derivative instruments contain credit-risk-related contingent features, such as cross-default and/or acceleration provisions and credit support requirements. In the event of certain defaults or a credit ratings downgrade, our counterparty may request early termination and net settlement of certain derivative trades or may require us to collateralize derivatives in a net liability position. At other times we may not utilize derivatives or derivative strategies to hedge certain risks or to reduce the financial exposure of price volatility. As a result, we may not prevent certain material adverse impacts that could have been mitigated through the use of derivative strategies.

Our transportation and distribution activities rely on third-party providers, which subject us to risks and uncertainties beyond our control that may adversely affect our operations.

We rely on railroad, trucking, pipeline and other transportation service providers to transport raw materials to our manufacturing facilities, to coordinate and deliver finished products to our storage and distribution system and our retail centers and to ship finished products to our customers. These transportation operations, equipment and services are subject to various hazards, including adverse operating conditions, extreme weather conditions, system failures, work stoppages, equipment and personnel shortages, delays, accidents such as spills and derailments and other accidents and operating hazards.

In the event of a disruption of existing transportation or terminaling facilities for our products or raw materials, alternative transportation and terminaling facilities may not have sufficient capacity to fully serve all of our customers or facilities. An extended interruption in the delivery of our products to our customers or the supply of natural gas, ammonia or sulfur to our production facilities could adversely affect sales volumes and margins.

These transportation operations, equipment and services are also subject to environmental, safety, and regulatory oversight. Due to concerns related to accidents, terrorism or increasing concerns regarding transportation of potentially hazardous substances, local, provincial, state and federal governments could implement new regulations affecting the transportation of raw materials or our finished products. If transportation of our products is delayed or we are unable to obtain raw materials as a result of any third party’s failure to operate properly or the other hazards described above, or if new and more stringent regulatory requirements are implemented affecting transportation operations or equipment, or if there are significant increases in the cost of these services or equipment, our revenues and cost of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, we may experience increases in our transportation costs, or changes in such costs relative to transportation costs incurred by our competitors.

Future technological innovation could affect our business.

Future technological innovation, such as the development of seeds that require less crop nutrients, or developments in the application of crop nutrients, if they occur, could have the potential to adversely affect the demand for our products and results of operations.

Cyber security risks could adversely affect our business.

As we continue to increase our dependence on information technologies to conduct our operations the risks associated with cyber security also increase. Cybersecurity breaches may be the result of, among other things, negligent or unauthorized activity by our employees or by third parties who use cyber-attack techniques involving malware, ransomware, hacking and phishing. Such cyber-attacks continue to increase in frequency and potential harm, and the methods used to gain unauthorized access evolve, making it increasingly difficult to anticipate, prevent, and detect incidents. We rely on our enterprise resource planning software and other information systems, among other things, to manage our manufacturing, supply chain, accounting and financial functions. Additionally, third parties on whose systems we place significant reliance for the conduct of our business are also subject to cybersecurity risks. We are significantly dependent upon internet connectivity and a third-party cloud hosting vendor. We have implemented security procedures and measures in order to protect our information from being vulnerable to theft, loss, damage or interruption from a number of potential sources or events. Although we believe these measures and procedures are appropriate, we

may not have the resources or technical sophistication to anticipate, prevent, or recover from rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks. Compromises to our information systems could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition.

We may engage in certain strategic transactions which may adversely affect our financial condition.

An important part of our business strategy is the acquisition of strategic assets or companies. Our management is currently evaluating and pursuing certain such opportunities, and from time to time separately provides indications of interest in respect of similar transactions, which may be significant. Any such discussions may or may not result in the consummation of a transaction, and we may not be able to identify or complete any of these potential acquisitions. We cannot predict the effect, if any, that any announcement or consummation of a transaction would have on the price of our securities. While the documents governing our indebtedness include certain restrictions on our ability to finance any acquisitions of new assets, such restrictions contain various exceptions and limitations.

There is no guarantee that any such transactions will be successful or, even if consummated, improve our operating results. We may incur costs, breakage fees or other expenses in connection with any such transactions or may not be able to obtain the necessary financing for such transactions on acceptable terms. Accordingly, any such transactions may ultimately have a material adverse effect on our operating results.

In addition, any future acquisitions could present a number of risks, including:

If we are unsuccessful in integrating acquisitions in a timely and cost-effective manner, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

There can be no assurance that we will repurchase shares of common stock or that we will repurchase shares at favorable prices.

In May 2023, our Board authorized a $150 million stock repurchase program. Total repurchase authority remaining under the repurchase program was $121 million as of December 31, 2023. The repurchase program may be suspended, terminated or modified at any time for any reason, including market conditions, the cost of repurchasing securities, the availability of alternative investment opportunities, liquidity, and other factors deemed appropriate. Under the repurchase program, we are authorized to purchase shares from time to time through open market or privately negotiated transactions. Such purchases may be made pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 plans or other means as determined by our management and in accordance with the requirements of the SEC. The repurchase program does not obligate us to purchase any particular number or type of securities. During 2023, we repurchased approximately 3.1 million shares of common stock at an average cost of $9.21 per share.

Our stock repurchases will depend upon, among other factors, our cash balances and potential future capital requirements, results of operations, financial condition, and other factors that we may deem relevant. We can provide no assurance that we will repurchase stock at favorable prices, if at all.

We may not be successful in the development and implementation of our low-carbon ammonia projects in a timely or economic manner, or at all.

We are currently evaluating and developing projects and other investments that could enable us to become a producer and marketer of low-carbon ammonia and other derivative products. The success of these projects is dependent on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control.

For example, the market for low-carbon ammonia remains nascent, and is continuing to develop and evolve. We cannot be certain that the market will grow to the size or at the rate we expect. The demand for low-carbon ammonia is dependent in part on the developing market for low-carbon hydrogen, for which ammonia can serve as a transport and storage molecule. These markets are heavily influenced by demand for clean energy, technology advancement and a range of domestic and international laws, regulations and policies related to carbon emissions, clean energy, tax benefits and other incentives and corporate accountability.

Recently, many other proposed low-carbon ammonia projects have been announced or considered, and future hydrogen, energy, or environmental/carbon policies may support development of additional nitrogen production in locations outside North America, including Europe, Australia, and the Middle East. In the event that the growth in supply of low-carbon ammonia and low-carbon hydrogen exceeds the growth in demand for those products, the resulting unfavorable supply and demand balance could lead to lower selling prices than we expect, which could negatively affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The recognition and acceptance of low-carbon ammonia as a transport and storage molecule for low-carbon hydrogen, the use of low-carbon ammonia as a fuel in its own right, and the development and growth of end market demand and applications for hydrogen and

ammonia are uncertain. Such matters depend on many factors outside of our control, such as the extent and rate at which cost competitive global renewable energy capacity increases, the price of traditional and alternative sources of energy, the implementation of taxes on carbon emissions, the realization of technological improvements required to increase the efficiency and lower the costs of production of ammonia, the regulatory environment, and the success of the projects described above to provide ammonia offerings cost-effectively. In addition, further development of alternative decarbonization technologies may result in viable alternatives to the use of low-carbon ammonia for many potential decarbonization applications, resulting in lower than expected market demand growth relative to our current expectations.

The success of our low-carbon ammonia projects also depend on the realization of certain technical improvements required to increase the efficiency and lower the costs of production of low-carbon ammonia. Over time, we may face operational difficulties and execution risks related to design, development and construction. If our assumptions about the engineering and project execution requirements necessary to successfully build or convert the facility capacity that we are contemplating and to scale up to larger production quantities prove to be incorrect, we may be unable to produce substantial quantities of low-carbon ammonia, and the cost to construct such low-carbon ammonia facilities, or the production costs associated with the operation of such facilities, may be higher than we project. The production of low-carbon ammonia depends to a large extent upon the ability of third parties to develop class VI carbon sequestration wells, which currently do not exist at large scale and are subject to a permitting process and operational risks, which may result in delays, impact viability in some or all situations, or create long-term liabilities.

Risks Relating to Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Matters

Our operations and the production and handling of our products involve significant risks and hazards.

Our operations are subject to hazards inherent in the manufacture, transportation, storage and distribution of chemical products, including some products that are highly toxic and corrosive. These hazards include, among other things, explosions; fires; severe weather and natural disasters; train derailments, collisions, vessel groundings and other transportation and maritime incidents; leaks and ruptures involving storage tanks, pipelines and rail cars; spills, discharges and releases of toxic or hazardous substances or gases; deliberate sabotage and terrorist incidents; mechanical failures; unscheduled plant downtime; labor difficulties and other risks. Some of these hazards can cause bodily injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment and environmental damage and may result in suspension of operations for an extended period of time and/or the imposition of civil or criminal penalties and liabilities. We periodically experience minor releases of ammonia related to leaks from our equipment. Similar events may occur in the future. As a result, such events could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Current and future legislative or regulatory requirements affecting our business may result in increased costs and decreased revenues, cash flows and liquidity or could have other negative effects on our business.

Our business is subject to numerous health, safety, security and environmental laws and regulations. The manufacture and distribution of chemical products are activities that entail health, safety and environmental risks and impose obligations under health, safety and environmental laws and regulations, many of which provide for substantial fines and potential criminal sanctions for violations. Although we believe we have established processes to monitor, review and manage our businesses to comply with the numerous health, safety and environmental laws and regulations, we previously were, and in the future, may be, subject to fines, penalties and sanctions for violations and substantial expenditures for cleanup costs and other liabilities relating to the handling, manufacture, use, emission, discharge or disposal of effluents at or from our chemical facilities. Further, a number of our chemical facilities are dependent on environmental permits to operate, the loss or modification of which could have a material adverse effect on their operations and our results of operation and financial condition. These operating permits are subject to modification, renewal and revocation. In addition, third parties may contest our ability to receive or renew certain permits that we need to operate, which can lengthen the application process or even prevent us from obtaining necessary permits. We regularly monitor and review our operations, procedures and policies for compliance with permits, laws and regulations. Despite these compliance efforts, risk of noncompliance or permit interpretation is inherent in the operation of our business.

There can be no assurance as to the amount or timing of future expenditures for environmental compliance or remediation, and actual future expenditures may be different from the amounts we currently anticipate. We try to anticipate future regulatory requirements that might be imposed and plan accordingly to remain in compliance with changing environmental laws and regulations and to minimize the costs of compliance.

Changes to the production equipment at our chemical facilities that are required in order to comply with health, safety and environmental regulations may require substantial capital expenditures.

Explosions and/or losses at other chemical facilities that we do not own (such as the April 2013 explosion in West, Texas) could also result in new or additional legislation or regulatory changes, particularly relating to public health, safety or any of the products manufactured and/or sold by us or the inability on the part of our customers to obtain or maintain insurance as to certain products manufactured and/or sold by us, which could have a negative effect on our revenues, cash flow and liquidity.

In summary, new or changed laws and regulations or the inability of our customers to obtain or maintain insurance in connection with any of our chemical products could have an adverse effect on our operating results, liquidity and financial condition.

We may not have adequate insurance.

While we maintain liability, property and business interruption insurance, including certain coverage for environmental contamination, it is subject to coverage limits and policies that may exclude coverage for some types of damages. Although there may currently be sources from which such coverage may be obtained, the coverage may not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or the possible types of liabilities that may be incurred by us may not be covered by our insurance. In addition, our insurance carriers may not be able to meet their obligations under the policies, or the dollar amount of the liabilities may exceed our policy limits. Even a partially uninsured claim, if successful and of significant magnitude, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

Furthermore, we are subject to litigation for which we could be obligated to bear legal, settlement and other costs, which may be in excess of any available insurance coverage. If we are required to incur all or a portion of the costs arising out of any litigation or investigation as a result of inadequate insurance proceeds, if any, our business, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity could be materially adversely affected. For further discussion of our litigation, please see “Other Pending, Threatened or Settled Litigation” in Note 7 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.

We may be required to modify or expand our operating, sales and reporting procedures and to install additional equipment in order to comply with current and possible future government regulations.

The chemical industry in general, and producers and distributors of ammonia and AN specifically, are scrutinized by the government, industry and public on security issues. Under current and proposed regulations, we may be required to incur substantial additional costs relating to security at our chemical facilities and distribution centers, as well as in the transportation of our products. These costs could have a material effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity. The cost of such regulatory changes, if significant, could lead some of our customers to choose other products over ammonia and AN, which may have a significant adverse effect on our business.

The “Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007” was enacted by the U.S. Congress, and subsequently the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in 2011. This regulation proposes to require sellers, buyers, their agents and transporters of solid AN and certain solid mixtures containing AN to possess a valid registration issued by DHS, keep certain records, report the theft or unexplained loss of regulated materials, and comply with certain other new requirements. We and others affected by this proposal have submitted appropriate comments to DHS regarding the proposed regulation. It is possible that DHS could significantly revise the requirements currently being proposed. Depending on the provisions of the final regulation to be promulgated by DHS and on our ability to pass these costs to our customers, these requirements may have a negative effect on the profitability of our AN business and may result in fewer distributors who are willing to handle the product. DHS has not finalized this rule, and has indicated that its next action, and the timing of such an action, is undetermined.

On August 1, 2013, U.S. President Obama issued an executive order addressing the safety and security of chemical facilities in response to recent incidents involving chemicals such as the explosion at West, Texas. The President directed federal agencies to enhance existing regulations and make recommendations to the U.S. Congress to develop new laws that may affect our business. In January 2016, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (“CSB”) released its final report on the West, Texas incident. The CSB report identifies several federal and state regulations and standards that could be strengthened to reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future. While the CSB does not have authority to directly regulate our business, the findings in this report, and other activities taken in response to the West, Texas incident by federal, state, and local regulators may result in additional regulation of our processes and products.

In January 2017, the U.S. EPA finalized revisions to its Risk Management Program (“RMP”). The revisions include new requirements for certain facilities to perform hazard analyses, third-party auditing, incident investigations and root cause analyses, emergency response exercises, and to publicly share chemical and process information. Compliance with many of the rule’s new requirements became required beginning in 2021. The EPA temporarily delayed the rule’s effective date however, the delay was subsequently vacated with an immediate effective date. On December 3, 2018, the EPA published a final rule that incorporates amendments to the RMP under 40 CFR Part 68. However, on November 21, 2019, EPA finalized its Risk Management Program Reconsideration Rule which rescinded third-party auditing, incident investigation and root cause analysis, and the public sharing of specific chemical and process information. The passage of the Reconsideration Rule has reduced the potential negative effect on the profitability of our AN business compared to the January 2017 RMP amendments. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is likewise considering changes to its Process Safety Management standards. In addition, DHS, the EPA, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives updated a joint chemical advisory on the safe storage, handling, and management of AN. While these actions may result in additional regulatory requirements or changes to our operators, it is difficult to predict at this time how these and any other possible regulations, if and when adopted, will affect our business, operations, liquidity or financial results.

Proposed and existing governmental laws and regulations relating to greenhouse gas and other air emissions may subject certain of our operations and customers to significant new costs and restrictions on their operations and may reduce sales of our products.

Our chemical manufacturing facilities use significant amounts of electricity, natural gas and other raw materials necessary for the production of their chemical products that result, or could result, in certain greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. Federal and state legislatures and administrative agencies, including the EPA, are considering the scope and scale of greenhouse gas or other air emission regulation. Legislation and administrative actions have been considered that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions at some point in the future for our facilities, and existing and possible actions have already affected certain of our customers, leading to closure or rate reductions of certain facilities.

In response to findings that emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases present an endangerment to public health and the environment, the EPA adopted regulations pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from various sources. For example, the EPA requires certain large stationary sources to obtain preconstruction and operating permits for pollutants regulated under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration and Title V programs of the Clean Air Act. Facilities required to obtain preconstruction permits for such pollutants are also required to meet “best available control technology” standards that are being established by the states. These regulatory requirements could adversely affect our operations and restrict or delay our ability to obtain air permits for new or modified sources.

Although greenhouse gas regulation could: increase the price of the electricity and other energy sources purchased by our chemical facilities; increase costs for natural gas and other raw materials (such as ammonia); potentially restrict access to or the use of certain raw materials necessary to produce our chemical products; and require us to incur substantial expenditures to retrofit our chemical facilities to comply with the proposed new laws and regulations regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Federal, state and local governments may also pass laws mandating the use of alternative energy sources, such as wind power and solar energy, which may increase the cost of energy use in certain of our chemical and other manufacturing operations. For instance, the EPA published a rule, known as the “Clean Power Plan,” to limit greenhouse gases from electric power plants. The EPA is currently reviewing the Clean Power Plan however, it could result in increased electricity costs due to increased requirements for use of alternative energy sources, and a decreased demand for coal-generated electricity.

Laws, regulations or other issues related to climate change could have a material adverse effect on us.

If we, or other companies with which we do business become subject to laws or regulations related to climate change, it could have a material adverse effect on us. The United States may enact new laws, regulations and interpretations relating to climate change, including potential cap-and-trade systems, carbon taxes and other requirements relating to reduction of carbon footprints and/or greenhouse gas emissions. Other countries have enacted climate change laws and regulations, and the United States has been involved in discussions regarding international climate change treaties. The federal government and some of the states and localities in which we operate have enacted certain climate change laws and regulations and/or have begun regulating carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions. Although these laws and regulations have not had any known material adverse effect on us to date, they could result in substantial costs, including compliance costs, monitoring and reporting costs and capital. Furthermore, our reputation could be damaged if we violate climate change laws or regulations. We cannot predict how future laws and regulations, or future interpretations of current laws and regulations, related to climate change will affect our business, results of operations, liquidity and financial condition. Lastly, the potential physical impacts of climate change on our operations are highly uncertain and would be particular to the geographic circumstances in areas in which we operate. These may include changes in rainfall and storm patterns and intensities, water shortages and changing temperatures. Any of these matters could have a material adverse effect on us.

Risks Relating to Debt

Despite our current levels of debt, we may still incur more debt ranking senior or equal in right of payment with our existing obligations, including secured debt, which would increase the risks described herein.

The agreements relating to our debt, including the Indenture governing the Senior Secured Notes and the credit agreement governing our New Revolving Credit Facility Loan, limit but do not prohibit our ability to incur additional debt, including additional secured debt. Notwithstanding the fact that the Indenture governing the Senior Secured Notes and the credit agreement governing our New Revolving Credit Facility Loan limit our ability to incur additional debt or grant certain liens on our assets, the restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and liens are subject to a number of important qualifications and exceptions, and the additional indebtedness and liens incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If new debt is added to our current debt levels, the related risks that we now face could intensify.

Borrowings under our New Revolving Credit Facility Loan bear interest at a variable rate, which subjects us to interest rate risk and could cause our debt service obligations to increase.

All of our borrowings under our New Revolving Credit Facility Loan are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. If interest rates continue to increase, our debt service obligations on this variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the

amount borrowed remained the same. Although we may enter into interest rate swaps to reduce interest rate volatility, we cannot provide assurances that we will be able to do so or that such swaps will be effective.

Risks Relating to Human Capital

Loss of key personnel and other employees could negatively affect our business.

Our performance has been and will continue to be dependent upon the efforts of our principal executive officers. We cannot ensure that our principal executive officers will continue to be available. Although we have employment agreements with certain of our principal executive officers, including Mark T. Behrman and Cheryl A. Maguire, we do not have employment agreements with all of our key personnel. The loss of any of our principal executive officers could have a material adverse effect on us. We believe that our future success will depend in large part on our continued ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel.

In recent years, as competition for employees in our industry has increased, we may experience higher than anticipated levels of employee attrition. Employee turnover and associated costs of rehiring, the loss of human capital and expertise through attrition and the reduced ability to attract talent could impair our ability to operate our business.

We are subject to collective bargaining agreements with certain employees.

Approximately 28% of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements. We may not be able to renew our collective bargaining agreements on terms similar to current terms or renegotiate collective bargaining agreements on terms acceptable to us. The prolonged failure to renew or renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement could result in work stoppages. Additionally, if a collective bargaining agreement is negotiated at higher-than-anticipated cost, absorbing those costs or passing them through to customers in the form of higher prices may make us less competitive.

Risks Relating to Shareholders

An affiliate of Todd Boehly (“Boehly”) has significant influence over us, which could limit your ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including a change of control.

TLB-LSB, LLC (“TLB-LSB”), which is an affiliate of Boehly, beneficially owns, in the aggregate approximately 21% of our outstanding common stock as of December 31, 2023. Additionally, pursuant to the Board Representation and Standstill Agreement, as amended, TLB-LSB has certain board member nomination rights based on the size of our Board and its holdings. For as long as TLB-LSB continues to beneficially own a substantial percentage of the voting power of our outstanding common stock, Boehly and his affiliates will continue to have significant influence over us. For example, they will be able to strongly influence the election of all of the members of our Board and our business and affairs, including certain determinations with respect to mergers or other business combinations, the acquisition or disposition of assets, the incurrence of additional indebtedness, the issuance of additional shares of common stock or other equity securities, the repurchase or redemption of shares of our common stock and the payment of dividends.

Additionally, Boehly and his affiliates manage businesses across a range of industries and may acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. Boehly and his affiliates may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us.

We are subject to a variety of factors that could discourage other parties from attempting to acquire us.

Our certificate of incorporation provides for a staggered Board and, except in limited circumstances, a two-thirds vote of outstanding voting shares to approve a merger, consolidation or sale of all, or substantially all, of our assets. In addition, we have entered into severance agreements with our executive officers and some of the executive officers of certain subsidiaries that provide, among other things, that if, within a specified period of time after the occurrence of a change in control of LSB, these officers are terminated, other than for cause, or the officer terminates his employment for good reason, the officer would be entitled to certain severance benefits. Certain of our preferred stock series and debt instruments also provide special rights in a change of control, including in some cases the ability to be repaid in full or redeemed.

We have authorized and unissued (including shares held in treasury) approximately 76.9 million shares of common stock and approximately 5.2 million shares of preferred stock as of December 31, 2023. These unissued shares could be used by our management to make it more difficult, and thereby discourage an attempt to acquire control of us.

The foregoing provisions and agreements may discourage a third-party tender offer, proxy contest, or other attempts to acquire control of us and could have the effect of making it more difficult to remove incumbent management. In addition, Boehly, through his affiliates, and the Golsen Holders have significant voting power and rights to designate board representatives, all of which may further discourage a third-party tender offer, proxy contest, or other attempts to acquire control of us.

Delaware has adopted an anti-takeover law which, among other things, will delay for three years business combinations with acquirers of 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of publicly-held companies (such as us), unless:

We have not paid cash dividends on our outstanding common stock in many years.

We have not paid cash dividends on our outstanding common stock in many years, and we do not currently anticipate paying cash dividends on our outstanding common stock in the near future. Our Board has not made a decision whether or not to pay dividends on our common stock in 2024. In addition, there are certain limitations contained in our loan agreements that may limit our ability to pay dividends on our outstanding common stock.

Future issuances or potential issuances of our common stock or preferred stock could adversely affect the price of our common stock and our ability to raise funds in new stock offerings and could dilute the percentage ownership or voting power of our common stockholders.

Future sales of substantial amounts of our common stock, preferred stock or equity-related securities in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect prevailing trading prices of our common stock and could dilute the value of common stock held by our existing stockholders. No prediction can be made as to the effect, if any, that future sales of common stock, preferred stock, or equity-related securities, or the availability of shares of common stock for future sale will have on the trading price of our common stock. Such future sales could also significantly reduce the percentage ownership and voting power of our existing common stockholders.

General Risk Factors

Deterioration of global market and economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

A slowdown of, or persistent weakness in, economic activity caused by a deterioration of global market and economic conditions could adversely affect our business in the following ways, among others: conditions in the credit markets could impact the ability of our customers and their customers to obtain sufficient credit to support their operations; the failure of our customers to fulfill their purchase obligations could result in increases in bad debts and affect our working capital; and the failure of certain key suppliers could increase our exposure to disruptions in supply or to financial losses. We also may experience declining demand and falling prices for some of our products due to our customers’ reluctance to replenish inventories. The overall impact of a global economic downturn or reduced overall global trade on us is difficult to predict, and our business could be materially adversely impacted.

In addition, conditions in the international market for nitrogen fertilizer significantly influence our operating results. The international market for fertilizers is influenced by such factors as the relative value of the U.S. currency and its impact on the importation of fertilizers, foreign agricultural policies, the existence of, or changes in, import or foreign currency exchange barriers in certain foreign markets and other regulatory policies (including tariffs) of foreign governments, as well as the U.S. laws and policies affecting foreign trade and investment.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained within this report may be deemed “Forward-Looking Statements.” within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. All statements in this report other than statements of historical fact are Forward-Looking Statements that are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are difficult to predict or outside of the Company’s control, which could cause actual results and performance of the Company to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, such statements. Any such Forward-Looking Statements are not guarantees of future performance. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “may,” “could,” and similar expressions identify Forward-Looking Statements. Any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally outside the Company’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied of projected by, such forward-looking statements. Forward-Looking Statements contained herein, and the associated risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

While we believe, the expectations reflected in such Forward-Looking Statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance such expectations will prove to have been correct. There are a variety of factors which could cause future outcomes to differ materially from those described in this report, including, but not limited to, the following:

Given these uncertainties, all parties are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such Forward-Looking Statements. Except to the extent required by law, we disclaim any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the Forward-Looking Statements contained herein to reflect future events or developments.

Defined Terms

The following is a list of terms used in this report.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY

Risk Management and Strategy

We recognize the importance of developing, implementing, and maintaining robust cybersecurity measures to maintain the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our business systems and commercially sensitive or confidential information. Our business depends on the proper functioning and availability of our information technology platform, including communications and data processing systems. We are also required to effect electronic transmissions with third parties including clients, vendors and others with whom we do business, and with our Board. We also recognize that, as we continue to increase our dependence on information technologies to conduct our operations the risks associated with cyber security also increase.

LSB utilizes an enterprise-wide risk management process to identify, assess and manage risks faced by our organization. The Company’s Enterprise Risk Management Committee (“ERM Committee”), is designated with the responsibility to direct our risk management program and to execute our risk management strategy, including cyber and technology risk. To protect our information systems and operations from risks and to execute our cyber strategy, we use various security processes and technology tools that help identify, investigate, assess, prevent, and resolve potential vulnerabilities and security incidents in a timely manner. These include, but are not limited to, detection, monitoring and reporting tools. Our team uses widely adopted methods and models to identify, prioritize and manage cyber and technology risks and develop related information security controls and safeguards. In partnership with third party advisors and consultants, we conduct regular reviews and tests of our program and leverage audits, penetration and vulnerability testing, cyber risk tabletops and security awareness trainings, and other cyber exercises to evaluate the effectiveness of our program and improve our security measures. Our information security policies are designed to address current applicable legal requirements and to align with recognized frameworks for cyber risk management. These standards cover physical, administrative, and technical controls and address a wide range of current cyber threats. These policies and standards are reviewed and updated on a regular basis in order to respond to the constantly changing threat landscape.

Governance

Our Board of Directors considers cybersecurity to be a business risk and oversees enterprise-wide risks through the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee is designated by the Board with the responsibility for monitoring and reporting on management’s cybersecurity and risk management processes. The ERM Committee is the management-entity designated by the Chief Executive Officer with the responsibility to direct and execute our risk governance and strategy, including cyber risk. This ERM Committee is composed of the Company’s Executive Vice Presidents and each of the Company’s Senior Vice Presidents. Our Senior Vice President and Treasurer chairs the ERM Committee. The Vice President for Information Technology (“IT”) leads the information security program, manages cyber governance and incident management. The Vice President of IT and the Director of Infrastructure and Security have over forty-five years of combined information technology experience and over a decade of cybersecurity experience. The ERM Committee and

Vice President for IT assess cyber risk and provide recommendations for management. The Chair of the ERM Committee and the Vice President for IT brief the Audit Committee regularly. These updates include an overview of cyber risk management activities, cyber threats, and key information security processes and mitigation efforts. The Chair of the Audit Committee provides regular reports to the Board of Directors on critical cyber risk and security topics presented to the Committee by management.

Incident Management

We have implemented security procedures and measures in order to protect our information from being vulnerable to theft, loss, damage or interruption from a number of potential sources or events. LSB maintains and tests an incident response plan that outlines steps for the containment, investigation of, response to and recovery from cyber events. The plan also includes information pertaining to roles, responsibilities, and reporting process. This plan is a part of our formal, enterprise-wide crisis management process, which outlines a communication plan with executive leadership as well as guidelines for communication with the Board of Directors. Although we make efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our information systems and technology operations, these systems are subject to the cyber risk of incident or disruption, and there can be no assurance that our security safeguards, and those of our third-party providers, will prevent incidents to our or our third-party providers’ systems that could adversely affect our business. For a discussion of these risks, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—General Risk Factors.”

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

The following table presents our significant properties for 2023:

_____________________________

For 2023, our facilities produced approximately 816,000 tons of ammonia.

In addition, we currently lease the office space housing our headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Most of our real property and equipment located at our chemical facilities are being used to secure our long-term debt. All of the properties utilized by our businesses are suitable and adequate to meet the current needs of that business and relate to domestic operations.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

See Legal Matters under Note 7 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this report.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

Our common stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LXU.”

Stockholders

As of February 16, 2024, we had approximately 336 record holders of our common stock which was obtained from our transfer agent. This number does not include investors whose ownership is recorded in the name of their brokerage company.

Equity Compensation Plans

Discussions relating to our equity compensation plans under Item 12 of Part III are incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement which we intend to file with the SEC on or before April 9, 2024.

Dividends

We have not paid cash dividends on our outstanding common stock in many years, and we do not currently anticipate paying cash dividends on our outstanding common stock in the near future. Our Board has not made a decision whether or not to pay dividends on our common stock in 2024.

Sale of Unregistered Securities

During 2023, we repurchased approximately 3.1 million shares at an average cost of $9.21 per share. During our fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased approximately 1.2 million shares at an average cost of $8.64 per share.

The following table summarizes the Company’s purchase of its common stock for the year ended December 31, 2023:

_____________________________

ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following MD&A should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data. Notes referenced in this discussion and analysis refer to the notes to consolidated financial statements that are found in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data—Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements. Certain statements contained in this MD&A may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. See “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

LSB is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and we manufacture and sell chemical products for the agricultural, mining, and industrial markets. We own and operate three multi plant facilities in Cherokee, Alabama, El Dorado, Arkansas and Pryor, Oklahoma, and operate a facility on behalf of Covestro in Baytown, Texas. Our products are sold through distributors and directly to end customers, primarily throughout the U.S. and other parts of North America.

Key Operating Initiatives for 2024

We expect our future results of operations and financial condition to benefit from the following key initiatives:

As a result, we are currently evaluating and developing projects that could enable us to become a producer and marketer of low-carbon ammonia and other derivative products. These include a low-carbon ammonia project at our El Dorado facility in collaboration with Lapis Energy, a low-carbon ammonia project on the Houston Ship Channel in conjunction with INPEX Corporation (“INPEX”), Air Liquide Group (“Air Liquide”) and Vopak Moda Houston LLC (“Vopak Moda”) and a green ammonia project at our Pryor Facility. Low-carbon ammonia is produced using natural gas and conventional processes but includes an additional stage where the carbon dioxide emissions are captured and permanently stored in deep underground rock formations. The resulting low carbon emission product, we believe, can be sold at a premium to power generation, marine, industrial, mining and agricultural customers seeking to reduce their carbon footprint and potentially capitalize on government incentives. Green ammonia is ammonia produced using renewable energy to power electrolyzers that extract hydrogen from water, resulting in zero-carbon production of ammonia, which we believe can also be sold at a premium to a variety of customers and industries around the world.

We believe we are well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity and become a market leader given our potential to retrofit our existing plants, which we believe can reduce our time to market for low-carbon ammonia and also reduce the upfront capital expenditures necessary to enable us to produce this product. Additionally, we are collaborating with other energy-related companies to develop greenfield projects where we expect to mitigate risk through shared investment of capital as well as by negotiating potential offtake agreements from customers for the output of these plants.

Recent Business Developments

Advanced Low-Carbon Ammonia Initiatives

In October 2023, we announced a collaboration with INPEX, Air Liquide and Vopak Moda to conduct a pre-FEED for the development of a large-scale, low-carbon ammonia production and export project on the Houston Ship Channel. If the development proceeds, the project’s first phase is targeted to produce more than 1.1 million metric tons per year of low-carbon ammonia by the end of 2027, with options for future production expansions.

The parties completed a feasibility study on the project earlier this year and the preferred facility’s location on the Houston Ship Channel, the second largest petrochemical corridor in the world, leverages existing infrastructure assets. Vopak Moda has invested in storage and handling infrastructure for bulk liquid products and currently operates an ammonia terminal that includes storage tanks and a newbuild dock with multiple deep-water berths. The project also has access to utilities and would be near multiple pipelines that could supply raw materials like natural gas and water.

The project partners will bring complementary expertise to the production, operation, storage and export for the advancement of low-carbon ammonia production in the US:

In May 2023, we entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (the "MOU") with Amogy Inc. (“Amogy”) aimed at developing the adoption of low-carbon ammonia as a marine fuel, initially for the U.S. inland waterways transportation sector. Through joint efforts, we and Amogy will focus on advancing the understanding, utilization, and advocacy of low-carbon ammonia as a sustainable fuel. Pursuant to the MOU, the companies will collaborate on the evaluation and development of a pilot program that integrates our low-carbon ammonia and Amogy’s ammonia-to-power solution. Upon successful completion of the evaluation and pilot program, the companies expect to further collaborate at a larger-scale, including exploration of opportunities for development of an end-to-end supply chain of low-carbon ammonia and deployment of Amogy technology across multiple applications, including maritime vessels. The evaluation and pilot program includes potential engagement with other parties across the ammonia value chain. We will also collaborate on various advocacy, education, and outreach efforts regarding the use of ammonia as a fuel.

In May 2022, we entered into agreements with Thyssenkrupp Uhde USA, LLC and Bloom Energy Corporation, to develop a project to produce approximately 30,000 metric tons of zero-carbon or “green” ammonia per year at our Pryor, Oklahoma facility. The green hydrogen produced from the electrolyzers could qualify for federal incentive programs such as the production and tax credit under Internal Revenue Code Section 45V. In November 2023, the uncertainty of the Internal Revenue Code Section 45V tax credits combined with the project’s current capital costs, caused us to place this project on hold. In December 2023, the 45V tax credit guidance was released requiring renewable electricity input consumption to be strictly matched to the hydrogen production output on an hourly basis. This requirement deems the design of our green ammonia project, as initially contemplated, economically unfeasible. We continue to have discussions with potential partners to redesign the project so that it qualifies for the recently released 45V tax credit guidance.

In April 2022, we entered into an agreement with Lapis Energy to develop a project to capture and permanently sequester CO2 at our El Dorado, Arkansas facility. Lapis, backed by Cresta Fund Management, a Dallas-based middle-market infrastructure investment firm, will invest the majority of the capital required for project development. The project is expected to be completed by 2025, subject to the approval of a Class VI permit, at which time CO2 injections are expected to begin. Once operational, the project at the El Dorado site will initially capture and permanently sequester more than 450,000 metric tons of CO2 per year in underground saline aquifers. The permanently sequestered CO2 generated from the facility’s ammonia production is expected to qualify for federal tax credits under Internal Revenue Code Section 45Q, which are $85 per metric ton of CO2 captured and pay us a fee for each ton of CO2 captured and permanently sequestered beginning in 2026. Once in operation, the sequestered CO2 is expected to reduce our scope 1 GHG emissions by approximately 25% from current levels. In addition, sequestering more than 450,000 metric tons of CO2 annually is expected to enable LSB to produce over 375,000 metric tons of low-carbon ammonia annually, a product that could potentially be sold at higher price levels than conventional ammonia. In February 2023, we achieved a key milestone in the advancement of our low-carbon ammonia project at El Dorado by filing a pre-construction Class VI permit application with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”). The EPA recognized our application as complete in March 2023 and is currently in the review process.

Lower Product Selling Prices Partially Offset by Stronger Sales Volume

Sales volumes of our products increased in 2023 as compared to 2022 during which we performed Turnarounds on our Pryor, Oklahoma and El Dorado, Arkansas facilities while we had no significant Turnarounds during 2023. In 2024, we have Turnarounds planned to take place during the third quarter at our Pryor, Oklahoma and Cherokee, Alabama facilities.

With respect to our 2023 profitability, higher sales volumes were more than offset by the impact of lower selling prices relative to the very high pricing levels of 2022. The decline in fertilizer prices was the result of a variety of domestic and international factors. A key factor in the weakening of nitrogen fertilizer prices through the first half of 2023 was the decline in natural gas costs in Europe. Natural gas is the primary feedstock for the production of ammonia. Natural gas prices in Europe dropped due to a reduction in demand primarily related to warmer than expected temperatures throughout Europe during the 2023 winter combined with ample supply and high storage inventories resulting from imports of liquified natural gas from the U.S. After having production largely curtailed for much of 2022, lower natural gas costs enabled a majority of European ammonia facilities to resume operations over the course of 2023, increasing global supply for nitrogen products. With that said, natural gas costs in Europe remain higher than those in the U.S. and European operators remain the high cost, or marginal producers, with production costs at levels above those in the U.S.

A slowdown in Far East Asian industrial activity combined with lower demand for phosphate products also contributed to lower nitrogen prices during 2023. Ammonia is a feedstock for various downstream chemicals that are produced in Asia, such as caprolactam and acrylonitrile, and markets for these products continue to be weak, resulting in reduced ammonia demand.

Nitrogen pricing increased during the second half of 2023, rebounding from July lows, driven by a combination of global factors including production outages at several large international ammonia plants, low inventory levels as a result of de-stocking throughout the nitrogen distribution channel, and the delayed start-up of new production capacity. During 2024, we expect ammonia pricing to moderate from late-2023 levels for a variety of reasons, including: heavy ammonia application by U.S. farmers during the Fall of 2023; natural gas prices in Europe are currently near their lowest levels since 2021 and appear unlikely to rise significantly in the coming months; and global industrial sector demand for nitrogen products remains depressed. Upside to our 2024 pricing expectations could be driven by a variety of factors, including: an increase in energy prices, various global geopolitical disruptions to trade flows, a strengthening industrial environment in China, delays in new production capacity coming online and supportive weather dynamics.

We believe that while prices for ammonia are anticipated to moderate, prices for other nitrogen products such as urea and UAN could see improvements due to Chinese urea export limitations in the first half of 2024, which should support urea prices and indirectly support UAN prices through the Spring 2024 planting season. Fertilizer prices, however, should remain attractive to retailers and farmers during the 2024 planting season which, combined with anticipated high planting levels in the U.S., should lead to healthy demand for nitrogen fertilizers. Additionally, we believe that corn prices will remain at a level that will further support demand for fertilizers during 2024.

Despite global economic challenges, our industrial business has been solid and demand for our products is steady, supported by the resilience of the U.S. economy. Nitric acid demand has remained stable as global producers have shifted production from international facilities to their U.S. operations in order to take advantage of lower domestic input costs. Demand for AN for use in mining applications is steady due to attractive market fundamentals for quarrying and aggregate production and U.S. metals offsetting any reductions resulting from lower coal production. While economic concerns persist, we believe that we have a meaningful degree of downside protection from the potential impacts of a recession given our diverse customer base, the nature of our contracts and our ability to shift our production mix to products where demand and pricing are strongest.

See a more detailed discussion below under “Key Industry Factors.”

Key Industry Factors

Supply and Demand

Fertilizer. The price at which our agricultural products are ultimately sold depends on numerous factors, including the supply and demand for nitrogen fertilizers which, in turn, depends upon world grain demand and production levels, the cost and availability of transportation and storage, weather conditions, competitive pricing and the availability of imports. Additionally, expansions or upgrades of competitors’ facilities and international and domestic political and economic developments continue to play an important role in the global nitrogen fertilizer industry economics. These factors can affect, in addition to selling prices, the level of inventories in the market which can cause price volatility and affect product margins.

From a farmers’ perspective, the demand for fertilizer is affected by the aggregate crop planting decisions and farm economics, weather and fertilizer application rate decisions of individual farmers. Individual farmers make planting decisions based largely on prospective profitability of a harvest, while the specific varieties and amounts of fertilizer they apply depend on factors such as their financial resources, soil conditions, weather patterns and the types of crops planted.

Additionally, changes in corn prices and those of soybean, cotton and wheat prices, can affect the number of acres of corn planted in a given year, and the number of acres planted will drive the level of nitrogen fertilizer consumption, likely effecting prices.

According to the February Report, farmers planted approximately 94.6 million acres of corn in 2023, up 7% compared to the 2022 planting season. According to the February Report, the USDA estimates the U.S. ending stocks for the 2023 Harvest will be approximately 55 million metric tons, an almost 60% increase from the 2022 Harvest. The USDA also raised the expected yield for the 2023 Harvest, up approximately 2% from a year ago.

The following February 2024 estimates are associated with the corn market:

_____________________________

According to the February Report, the USDA corn outlook for the U.S. is for lower food, seed, and industrial use and larger ending stocks. Corn used for glucose and dextrose was reduced 10 million bushels based on indicated usage to date. With no other use changes, U.S. corn ending stocks are up 10 million bushels from the previous month report. From a demand perspective, we believe that corn prices will remain at a level that will further support demand for fertilizers during 2024.

Industrial and Mining Products. Our industrial products sales volumes are dependent upon general economic conditions primarily in the housing, automotive, and paper industries. According to the American Chemistry Council, the U.S. economic indicators will remain mostly unchanged year over year in 2024 before ramping up to a growth rate of 3%–4% annually in 2025–2026. Our sales prices generally vary with the market price of ammonia or natural gas, as applicable, in our pricing arrangements with customers.

Our mining products are LDAN and AN solution, which are primarily used as AN fuel oil and specialty emulsions for usage in the quarry and the construction industries, for metals mining and to a lesser extent, for coal. Demand for AN for use in mining applications is robust due to attractive market fundamentals for quarrying and aggregate production and U.S. metals.

While economic concerns persist for 2024, we believe that for both our industrial and mining products we have a meaningful degree of downside protection from the potential impacts of a recession given the nature of our contracts and our ability to shift our production mix to products where demand and pricing are strongest.

Natural Gas Prices

Natural gas is the primary resource for conversion and manufacturing production of our nitrogen products. In recent years, U.S. natural gas reserves have increased significantly due to, among other factors, advances in extracting shale gas, which has reduced and stabilized natural gas prices, providing North America with a cost advantage over certain imports. As a result, our competitive position and that of other North American nitrogen fertilizer producers has been positively affected.

We historically have purchased natural gas either on the spot market, through forward purchase contracts, or a combination of both and have used forward purchase contracts to lock in pricing for a portion of our natural gas requirements. These forward purchase contracts are generally either fixed-price or index-price, short-term in nature and for a fixed supply quantity. We are able to purchase natural gas at competitive prices due to our connections to large distribution systems and their proximity to interstate pipeline systems. As of December 31, 2023, we do not have any natural gas forward contacts outstanding. The following table shows the annual volume of natural gas we purchased and the average cost per MMBtu:

Transportation Costs

Costs for transporting nitrogen-based products can be significant relative to their selling price. We continue to evaluate the recent rising costs of freight domestically. As a result of increases in demand for available rail, truck and barge options to transport product, primarily during the spring and fall planting seasons, higher transportation costs have and could continue to impact our margins, where we are unable to fully pass through these costs to our customers. Additionally, continued truck driver shortages could impact our ability to fulfill customer demand. As a result, we continue to evaluate supply chain efficiencies to reduce or counter the impact of higher logistics costs.

Key Operational Factors

Facility Reliability

Consistent, reliable and safe operations at our chemical plants are critical to our financial performance and results of operations. The financial effects of planned downtime at our plants, including Turnarounds is mitigated through a diligent planning process that considers the availability of resources to perform the needed maintenance and other factors. Unplanned downtime of our plants typically results in lost contribution margin from lost sales of our products, lost fixed cost absorption from lower production of our products and increased costs related to repairs and maintenance. All Turnarounds result in lost contribution margin from lost sales of our products, lost fixed cost absorption from lower production of our products and increased costs related to repairs and maintenance, which repair and maintenance costs are expensed as incurred.

Our Cherokee Facility is currently on a three-year ammonia plant Turnaround cycle with the next ammonia plant Turnaround planned in the third quarter of 2024. Our El Dorado Facility is currently on a three-year ammonia plant Turnaround cycle with the next ammonia plant Turnaround planned in the third quarter of 2025. Our Pryor Facility is currently on a two-year ammonia plant Turnaround cycle with the next ammonia plant Turnaround planned in the third quarter of 2024.

Ammonia Production

Ammonia is the basic product used to produce all of our upgraded products. The ammonia production rates of our plants affect the total cost per ton of each product produced and the overall sales of our products.

Total ammonia production in 2023 was 816,000 tons. For 2024, we are targeting total ammonia production of approximately 790,000 tons to 810,000 tons. Ammonia production is expected to be lower in 2024 as a result of planned Turnaround activities at the Pryor Facility and the Cherokee Facility in the second half of the year.

We believe that our focus on continuous improvement in reliability as discussed in our key operating initiatives underscores our focused goal of achieving a 95% ammonia on-stream operating rate goal and increasing our production volumes of downstream products.

Forward Sales Contracts

In certain instances, we may use forward sales of our fertilizer products to optimize our asset utilization, planning process and production scheduling. These sales are made by offering customers the opportunity to purchase product on a forward basis at prices and delivery dates that are agreed upon, with dates typically occurring within 12 months. We use this program to varying degrees during the year depending on market conditions and our view of changing price environments. Fixing the selling prices of our products months in advance of their ultimate delivery to customers typically causes our reported selling prices and margins to differ from spot market prices and margins available at the time of shipment.

Consolidated Results for 2023

Our consolidated net sales for 2023 were $593.7 million compared to $901.7 million for 2022. Our consolidated operating income for 2023 was $51.8 million compared to $308.4 million for 2022. The items affecting our operating results are discussed below and under “Results of Operations.”

Items Affecting Comparability of Results

Selling Prices

Our 2023 average selling prices for our ammonia, AN & Nitric Acid, and UAN decreased compared to 2022. As discussed above under “Recent Business Developments,” declining European natural gas prices resulted in ammonia production costs in Europe declining substantially, translating into increased global supply and lower selling prices for ammonia and ammonia derivative fertilizers.

Our 2023 average industrial selling prices for most of our products were also lower compared to the same period of 2022, primarily driven by the $655 per metric ton decrease in the average annual Tampa Ammonia benchmark price, as many of our industrial contracts are indexed to the Tampa Ammonia benchmark price.

Other Income from Railcar Sublease

During 2023, we subleased on a short-term basis certain railcars and recognized the corresponding revenue as a component of "Other (income) expense, net" in our consolidated statement of operations, which we discuss in Note 14 – Leases.

Gain on Extinguishment of Senior Secured Notes

During the second quarter of 2023 we repurchased $125 million in principal amount of our Senior Secured Notes for approximately $114.3 million. Including our write-off of the associated remaining portion of unamortized debt issuance costs, we recognized a gain on extinguishment of approximately $8.6 million.

Settlement of Life Insurance (2022 only)

In the second quarter of 2022, we recognized a $3.0 million settlement on our company owned life insurance resulting from the approval by our insurer of a death benefit relating to the death of J. Golsen as discussed in Note 10 – Employee Savings and Stock Purchase Plans, Collective Bargaining Agreements and Executive Benefit Agreement. Upon receipt of the settlement, we paid $2.5 million to the designated beneficiary pursuant to a death benefit agreement with J. Golsen. The amount paid was accrued prior to 2022.

Turnaround Activities (2022 only)

When a Turnaround is performed, overall results for the period are negatively impacted. This impact includes lost contribution margin from lost sales, lost fixed cost absorption from lower production, and increased costs associated with repairs and maintenance. No ammonia plant Turnarounds were performed at any of our facilities during 2023. The effects of our ammonia plant Turnaround activity during 2022, excluding the impacts on downstream production from lost ammonia, are shown below and do not reflect all Turnaround activity during 2022:

Results of Operations

The following Results of Operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and accompanying notes and the discussions under “Overview” and “Liquidity and Capital Resources” included in this MD&A. You should carefully review and consider the information in the MD&A of our 2022 Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2023 for an understanding of our results of operations and liquidity discussions and analysis comparing 2022 to 2021.

We present the following information about our results of operations. Net sales to unaffiliated customers are reported in the consolidated financial statements and gross profit represents net sales less cost of sales. Net sales are reported on a gross basis with the cost of freight being recorded in cost of sales.

Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022

The following table contains certain financial information: