CF Industries posts big earnings miss amid price pressure

• CF Industries (NYSE:CF) -7.3% premarket after Q3 earnings came in only a little more than half as high as analyst expectations, pressured by weakening prices for nitrogen fertilizer.
• CF projects a 15% increase in North American ammonia demand and says it began Q4 with a "solid order book" for ammonia and urea ammonium nitrate, but the average selling price for ammonia has dropped 15% Y/Y to $446/ton, while the price of UAN (urea ammonium nitrate) has slipped nearly 7% to $242/ ton.
• CF slightly raises its estimate for 2016 corn planting to ~90.5M acres, saying current returns based on new crop futures favor planting.
• CF says expansions at nitrogen plants in Louisiana and Iowa are on schedule for start-up between Q4 2015 and mid-2016.