While a lot of C02 is created as a by-product from ammonia production, which is used by the fertiliser industry, the rest of it is produced in bio ethanol plants around the world. A severe case of bad timing has quickly led to what has been described as ‘the worst supply situation to hit the European carbon dioxide business in decades’ by Trade Journal, Gas World. Peak consumption for fertiliser is usually in the winter months, a number of the larger European fertiliser plants have closed down their operations in the summer, to carry out routine maintenance. Only two out of five UK producers are currently operational. It is common practise for these shut downs to take place during the summer months, however the owners of these sites are facing growing criticism for their poor lack of communication, with many believing this shortage could have been avoided had the maintenance plans been announced ahead of time.
While we have all heard of C02, many of us had been previously unaware of just how often we rely on this gas as consumers. From medical procedures to manufacturing of semiconductor devices, C02 has many uses, however it is most commonly known for, and used, in the food and beverage industries. Typically when the weather heats up, hundreds of us head for the beer garden and fire up the BBQ. This could prove more difficult over the coming days following the decision from Tesco owned Booker, the country’s largest wholesaler, to ration supplies to pubs, restaurants and stores outside of their own group.
A spokesperson from Booker earlier spoke with Sky news and has confirmed “Due to the international shortage of CO2, we are experiencing some supply issues on soft drinks and beer.
We are currently working hard with our suppliers to minimise the impact for our customers and to optimise availability with the stock that is available, therefore we cannot comment further at this stage”
It is believed the shortage will be widespread with brand giants Coca Cola and Heineken among the first to speak out regarding the issues, the only company who appears to be unaffected by the shortage is Tesco, although that hardly comes as a surprise.
Currently the price of ammonia is very low which means producers have little incentive to resume production quicker than planned. To date, the government has taken no action to help address the mounting crisis, with Defra stating they aware that there are reports of a CO2 shortage”, and are in contact with the industry and gas suppliers “to understand the implications of the situation”.
The wider food and beverage industry are hoping supplies will return to normal early July before the sunshine disappears and the final whistle has gone for the 2018 World cup. Businesses are hoping supplies will be distributed evenly to enable them to cash in on this lucrative time of year, although it is too early to confirm exactly what will happen, it is likely supplies will return to normal before the C02 shortages replace the chicken free KFC as the biggest supply chain disaster of 2018.
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