By LCN Business Desk
Nutrien put a number on its exit from Point Lisas on 4 November. The carrying value of its Trinidad assets to be assessed for impairment is US$760 million. In the same quarterly release, the company raised the volume of nitrogen it expects to sell this year.
What did Nutrien tell the market on 4 November?
That the write-down lands in the fourth quarter, and that the guidance went up.
The third-quarter release states that the company expects "to recognize expenses in the fourth quarter of 2026, which include non-cash asset and goodwill impairments", and that "the carrying value of the total assets in Trinidad that will be assessed for impairment is $760 million" as at 30 September 2026. That figure excludes goodwill and certain other assets, so it is the base for the assessment rather than the charge itself. The company adds that it expects "to incur expenses related to severance and other shutdown costs", without giving an amount.
The same release moved the sales forecast the other way. Nitrogen sales volume guidance, which stood at 9.2 to 9.7 million tonnes on 5 August, was raised to 9.3 to 9.7 million tonnes, attributed to reliability improvements and debottlenecking elsewhere in the network.
The release also keeps the status of the plant as it was announced. It describes "the indefinite shutdown of our Trinidad nitrogen facility", not a permanent closure.
What did the companies say when they left?
Each named gas, and two told investors it would not move their numbers.
Nutrien Ltd announced on 5 October that it would indefinitely shut down its Trinidad Nitrogen operations at Point Lisas, citing "ongoing natural gas constraints and uncertainty" and calling the decision the optimal path to enhance free cash flow and return on invested capital. The release then addressed the market directly: there would be "no impact to Nutrien's 2026 Nitrogen sales volume guidance", because the company "assumed no production from its Trinidad Nitrogen operations". The plant had already been through a controlled shutdown on 23 October 2025, over port access restrictions and what the company called a lack of reliable and economic natural gas supply.
Methanex Corporation had taken the same position in June. Announcing on 29 June that it could not agree a new gas contract for its Titan methanol plant and would indefinitely idle it, the company said Titan was not contributing to its adjusted EBITDA or adjusted free cash flow and that it did not expect to incur material cash costs from the decision. It attributed the move to an environment in which, in its words, structurally tight gas supply and demand balances in Trinidad and Tobago are making operations commercially unviable. Titan has an annual capacity of 860,000 tonnes and is being kept in a preserved state. Methanex's Atlas plant, in which it holds a 63.1 per cent economic interest, was already idled.
| Company | Point Lisas status | Announced |
|---|---|---|
| Nutrien | Trinidad Nitrogen indefinitely shut down | 5 October 2026 |
| Proman Trinidad | Workforce reduced, plants below capacity | 8 October 2026 |
| Methanex | Titan methanol plant indefinitely idled | 29 June 2026 |
Sources: Nutrien's releases of 5 October and 4 November 2026; Methanex's announcement of 29 June 2026; Trinidad Guardian, 9 October 2026, for the Proman figures.
Proman is privately held and files nothing. Chief executive David Cassidy told employees the company does not always have enough gas in Trinidad to run all its plants consistently at full capacity, said the immediate challenge was in Trinidad, and said the company had to align its cost base with current production levels. Asked about the cuts by Guardian Media, Proman Trinidad described them as part of a global organisational alignment initiative.
What happens to the workers?
About 100 Proman employees finish on 23 November.
Proman Trinidad completed the retrenchment on 8 October, putting it at nine per cent of its local workforce, according to the Trinidad Guardian. The affected employees received 45 days' notice and are not required to report during it, and their final day of employment is 23 November 2026. The terms are above the statutory floor: 0.75 months' pay for each completed year for employees with one to five years of service, and one month per year for those with five or more, calculated on total guaranteed cash earnings.
The Guardian reports about 350 contract workers out of work following Nutrien's shutdown. The position of Nutrien's permanent staff has not been published, and Methanex has published no figure for Titan. On the published figures, about 450 jobs are accounted for across the three.
What does it mean for Point Lisas?
That the estate is losing tenants over gas while a new one is being built on the same assumption.
Refurbishment began at Point Lisas on 10 August with production targeted for end-2027. The plant uses gas-based direct reduction, and no supply agreement has been reported. The steel restart and the three departures rest on opposite readings of the same supply position.
The write-down also has a recent precedent offshore. Woodside agreed on 6 August 2026 to sell its 70 per cent operated interest in Calypso to bp, eight days after flagging impairment losses. In both cases the accounting followed the operating decision rather than preceding it.
For a counterparty on the estate, the sequence is the part worth reading. Both listed tenants had removed Trinidad from their forward numbers before they announced they were leaving. Nutrien's guidance was built without Trinidad production in it, and Methanex's cash measures already excluded Titan. The impairment now being assessed is the balance sheet catching up with a position the income statement had already taken.
Key figures
- US$760 million. Carrying value of Nutrien's Trinidad assets to be assessed for impairment, as at 30 September 2026, excluding goodwill and certain other assets. - 9.3 to 9.7 million tonnes. Nutrien's nitrogen sales volume guidance as at 4 November, raised from 9.2 to 9.7 million tonnes on 5 August. - About 100. Proman Trinidad employees retrenched in the exercise completed on 8 October, nine per cent of its local workforce. - 23 November 2026. Their final day of employment. - About 350. Contract workers at the Nutrien site, on the Trinidad Guardian's count of 9 October. - 860,000 tonnes. Annual capacity of Methanex's Titan plant, now idled in a preserved state. - 63.1 per cent. Methanex's economic interest in the Atlas plant, idled earlier. - 23 October 2025. The earlier controlled shutdown at Nutrien's Trinidad facility. - Q2 2026. The quarter in which Methanex recorded the asset impairment charge its third-quarter release cites for the sequential rise in net income, a step Nutrien now expects to take in the fourth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Nutrien writing off in Trinidad?
Nutrien has not published the amount of the charge. The company said on 4 November that it expects to recognise expenses in the fourth quarter of 2026 including non-cash asset and goodwill impairments, and that the carrying value of total Trinidad assets to be assessed for impairment is US$760 million as at 30 September 2026, excluding goodwill and certain other assets.
Is the Trinidad plant closed permanently?
The company describes it as an indefinite shutdown rather than a permanent closure, in both its announcement of 5 October 2026 and its third-quarter release of 4 November.
Did the closures reduce the companies' forecasts?
No, on their own accounts. Nutrien said there would be no impact to its 2026 nitrogen sales volume guidance because it had assumed no production from Trinidad, and later raised that guidance. Methanex said Titan was not contributing to its adjusted EBITDA or adjusted free cash flow and that it expected no material cash costs from idling it.
How many jobs are involved?
About 100 Proman Trinidad employees were retrenched in an exercise completed on 8 October, with 23 November as their final day, and about 350 contract workers are reported out of work following Nutrien's shutdown. Neither company has given a number for its own employees: Nutrien's permanent staff are unaccounted for in the published record, and Titan's headcount has never been disclosed.
Why did each company say it was leaving?
Nutrien cited ongoing natural gas constraints and uncertainty. Methanex said it could not agree a new gas contract for Titan and pointed to structurally tight gas supply and demand balances in Trinidad and Tobago. Proman's chief executive told staff the company does not always have enough gas in Trinidad to run all its plants at full capacity.
The entities
- Nutrien Ltd operated the Trinidad Nitrogen plant at Point Lisas and announced its indefinite shutdown on 5 October 2026.
- Methanex Corporation idled its Titan methanol plant at Point Lisas and holds a 63.1 per cent economic interest in the idled Atlas plant.
- Proman Trinidad, led by chief executive David Cassidy, retrenched about 100 employees in an exercise completed on 8 October 2026.
- Point Lisas is Trinidad and Tobago's principal industrial estate, host to the three operations above.