CF & POET Partner to Advance Low-Carbon Pathway for U.S. Ethanol

CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF, together with POET LLC, the world’s largest producer of biofuels, and several major U.S. agriculture cooperatives, has launched a pilot program to develop a low-carbon fertilizer supply chain. It is aimed at lowering the carbon intensity of corn and allowing the production of low-carbon ethanol for motor fuel and export use.  

The initiative tracks certified low-carbon nitrogen fertilizer from CF Industries, produced at its Donaldsonville Complex using CO2 emission capture and storage, and sold from its distribution network through retail distribution channels before being applied by growers across Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska. The pilot includes WinField United, NuWay-K&H, New Cooperative and Farmer’s Cooperative. 

POET will use the resulting low-carbon corn to produce an estimated 5–6 million gallons of lower-carbon intensity ethanol at its Midwest bioprocessing facilities. The collaboration completed its first low-carbon ammonia distribution and field application in late 2025, marking a significant step toward decarbonizing both agricultural inputs and biofuel output. 

CF, POET and the partnering cooperatives emphasized that the pilot shows how low-carbon fertilizer can achieve measurable emissions reductions across the entire value chain, helping produce cleaner ethanol, improving farmer economics and advancing U.S. low-carbon fuel goals. 

Shares of CF are up 1.6% in the past year compared with the industry’s rise of 13.9%.

CF’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

CF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 

Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Lsb Industries Inc. LXU, Intrepid Potash Inc. IPI and Novozymes A/S NVZMY.

At present, LSB sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while IPI and NVZMY carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LXU’s current fiscal-year earnings is pegged at 36 cents per share, indicating a 57% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing twice, with the average surprise being 141.3%. Shares of LXU are up 17.5% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for IPI’s current-year earnings is pegged at $1.22 per share, indicating a rise of 507%. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters while missing twice.IPI’s shares have gained 26.7% over the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NVZMY’s current fiscal-year earnings is pegged at $2.31 per share, indicating a 23% year-over-year increase. Shares of NVZMY have jumped 12.9% over the past year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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