The Government has offered help to the 海角视频’s biggest CO2 supplier after rocketing gas prices halted production – but said propping it up would only ever be temporary.
CF Fertilisers’ two plants – in Billingham and Cheshire – remain shut, as the food industry warns of a looming impact on supermarket shelves.
Around 400 staff are based at the firm's Cheshire site, where 1m tonnes of fertiliser a year supply sectors including grass and arable farming, while around 200 staff are employed on Teesside, with to the region's economy.
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Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has held talks with the firm’s CEO and said he hoped to have a “very clear plan” to get CO2 production back up and running this week, amid fears shortages could lead to food supply issues.
The Minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that any assistance was still being discussed, but said: “Time is of the essence, and that’s why I spoke to the CEO, speaking to him twice in the last two days, and we’re hopeful that we can get something sorted today and get the production up and running in the next few days.
“It will come at some cost... it may come at some cost, we’re still hammering out details, we’re still looking at a plan”.
But he added: “I have to say if there is support provided, that will be on a temporary basis, that’s not something that we want to do indefinitely.”
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CF Fertilisers is a major producer of carbon dioxide (CO2) and producers have warned that supplies of meat, poultry and fizzy drinks could all be hit by shortages.
Shoppers may notice that products are missing from supermarket shelves “in about 10 days”.
The chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, Ian Wright, says the potential shortages of CO2 supply is “a real crisis” and said “the just-in-time system which underpins both supermarkets and hospitality industry is under the most strain it has ever been in the 40 years it has been there”.
He said that poultry production will begin to erode very seriously by the end of this week, with the same being true of pig production and the making of bakery goods. Meat packaging is probably only about a week behind, he added.
He said: “We probably have about 10 days before this gets to the point where consumers, shoppers and diners notice that those products are not available.”
Mr Kwarteng is grappling with a spike in global gas prices which has left energy companies struggling, as well as having the knock-on effect on food supply.
He said the combination of rising gas prices and the looming £20 a week cut to Universal Credit was a “difficult situation” and he had spoken to Cabinet colleagues including Chancellor Rishi Sunak about the pressures facing households.
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Some 4.4 million households on Universal Credit are poised to see their energy bills rise significantly in October - the same month they will typically lose more than 5% of disposable income as the £20-a-week uplift to the benefits payment ends - the Resolution Foundation think tank has calculated.
Any support for large energy companies taking on customers from those which collapsed will not be “a blank cheque”.
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Mr Kwarteng said: “Any support for those larger companies will be in terms of working capital, will be a loan, it won’t be just a grant, it won’t be just a blank cheque.
“It will be something where - if we do have this facility, if we do have this policy - they will be expected to pay back the loans, whereas in the case of a bailout, that’s what it is. It’s just a bailout where you grant money, taxpayers’ money, and the taxpayer doesn’t see any return from that.”
The Minister added that not every energy company can expect a Government bailout.
He said: “I think one of the things I’ve established as a principle is that I don’t believe that taxpayers’ money should be funnelled into companies that have been badly run. So ... not every company in the sector can expect the Government bailouts. I’ve been very clear about that.”
He added: “The way that markets work is the badly-run companies often go out of business, that’s a natural process.”