Mosaic is laying off 199 workers at its South Fort Meade facility in Polk County, idling the phosphate operation as soon as December 8. The cuts, confirmed in a formal notice to state officials, mark the latest fallout from a global sulfur crunch that has been squeezing fertilizer makers all year.
As reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay’s Carla Bayron, Mosaic will be laying off nearly 200 workers at the South Fort Meade site. The company’s vice president, Ron Yasurek, submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) letter on October 5 that was formally processed in mid-October, according to Florida Patch. Federal WARN rules generally require companies to give at least 60 days notice before mass layoffs, which lines up with the December 8 effective date.
Sulfur Shortage Driving the Shutdown
Mosaic has pointed to an acute global shortage of sulfur, a raw material essential to converting mined phosphate rock into phosphoric acid fertilizer. The shortage has been worsened by Middle Eastern conflict and maritime trade disruptions moving through the Strait of Hormuz, according to DTN Progressive Farmer. Sulfur, which is recovered as a byproduct of oil and gas refining, has seen its global price climb from a historical range of $100 to $300 per metric ton to more than $1,000 per ton this year as shipping choke points constrained trade out of the Persian Gulf, the outlet reported.
Middle Eastern exports typically supply nearly half of the world’s seaborne sulfur trade, which helps explain why a regional conflict thousands of miles away can shut down a Central Florida processing plant. The South Fort Meade shutdown is expected to last more than six months, though a small core team of employees will stay on-site to handle maintenance, environmental compliance, and safety duties until market conditions allow a restart, per the station’s report. The company has indicated it will evaluate alternative sulfur suppliers before setting any firm reopening date.
Union Workers and Bumping Rights
Hourly employees at South Fort Meade are represented by Local 814C of the International Chemical Workers Union Council, part of the UFCW, and union leadership was notified ahead of the mass layoff announcement. Contract provisions allow eligible workers to exercise bumping rights into other company positions, offering some displaced employees a path to stay employed within Mosaic rather than facing an outright job loss…