Mosaic to idle South Fort Meade phosphate operation Dec. 8, laying off 199 workers over sulfur shortage

The Mosaic Co. will idle its South Fort Meade phosphate operation on Dec. 8 and lay off about 199 workers, blaming a global shortage and soaring cost of sulfur, according to a layoff notice the company filed with the Florida Department of Commerce. The site straddles the Polk-Hardee county line in the heart of Florida's phosphate country, and the shutdown is expected to last more than six months.

The filing, made under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, gives affected employees 60 days' notice before their jobs end. The cut qualifies as a mass layoff under federal WARN rules, FOX 13 reported.

What the WARN notice says

According to the notice, Mosaic decided to pause South Fort Meade because of ongoing supply chain problems and extraordinary costs for sulfur, a key raw material in making phosphate fertilizer. The company said it had already curtailed production across its global operations, but persistent market constraints forced a longer idling at the site.

A core group of employees will stay on to handle care and maintenance, safety and environmental compliance until conditions allow a restart, the filing said. Mosaic did not set a reopening date, saying only that it expects the temporary shutdown to exceed six months, and that it plans to resume operations as soon as market conditions and sulfur availability allow a safe, reliable restart.

The final breakdown of job titles and the number of workers in each category had not been completed when the notice was filed, according to FOX 13. Hourly workers at the site are represented by the Chemical Workers Union Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 814C, and their contract includes bumping rights, which could allow some workers to move into other positions and displace less senior employees elsewhere. How many will be able to do that is not yet known.

"We recognize how difficult this news is for our employees and their families," company officials wrote in the notice, according to FOX 13. "Please know that we are committed to supporting them through this transition, with the care and safety of our people and communities as our top priority."

State and local workforce officials are expected to work with the company to connect laid-off workers with employment resources.

Why sulfur matters

Phosphate fertilizer makers burn sulfur to produce sulfuric acid, which is used to process phosphate rock. When sulfur gets scarce or expensive, the economics of running a phosphate operation change quickly.

Seckin Ozkul, an assistant professor of supply chain management at the University of South Florida, told FOX 13 that 40% to 45% of the world's sulfur moves through the Strait of Hormuz each year. Shipping through the strait has been disrupted by the conflict involving Iran, which has squeezed supplies worldwide.

"When we have less supply, demand is the same, so the cost is going up," Ozkul told the station. He said companies need to diversify suppliers and lock in early contracts, and warned that if the shortage persists, farmers could plant different crops to reduce fertilizer use, which could eventually affect the variety and cost of food on grocery shelves.

Months of curtailments at Mosaic

The South Fort Meade idling is the latest in a series of production cuts by Mosaic, the largest U.S. phosphate producer, which is headquartered in Tampa. In its second-quarter 2026 results in August, the company reported a net loss of about $273 million, and its phosphate segment posted an operating loss, according to earnings coverage. Mosaic said its Louisiana phosphate fertilizer production had been fully curtailed and that its Bartow plant in Polk County was running at roughly 40% of its target rate.

The company paid an average of $522 per long ton for sulfur in the second quarter, up from $379 in the first quarter, and had already settled third-quarter contracts around $705 per long ton, according to reports on the earnings call. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mosaic said it was taking, and might continue to take, steps to temporarily curtail additional production at phosphate facilities in North America and Brazil in the third quarter.

Mosaic chief executive Bruce Bodine has described spot sulfur prices as unsustainably high, and the company has said it can ramp production back up quickly once sulfur markets normalize.

A mine with a long history of starts and stops

South Fort Meade has been idled before. In 2010, a federal court injunction in a challenge to the wetlands permit for the mine's Hardee County extension temporarily halted mining there, and Mosaic indefinitely idled the operation. A partial settlement later that year allowed limited mining on about 200 of the extension's 10,583 acres, according to a Mosaic announcement at the time.

The Herald-Advocate, the weekly newspaper in Hardee County, reported that a dedicated team will remain at South Fort Meade throughout the current idling to maintain the site safely.

What it means for Polk and Hardee counties

Phosphate mining and fertilizer production are among the largest private industries in Polk and Hardee counties. Mosaic says nearly 1,400 of its employees live in Polk County, and the Bone Valley phosphate district that spans Polk, Hardee and neighboring counties is the largest known source of phosphate in the United States, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management. The Herald-Advocate has reported that, based on Mosaic's permitted mines, phosphate mining in Hardee County could continue for another 30 to 40 years.

The layoffs land as Polk County's job market is already softer than the state's. The Lakeland metro area had a 5.2% unemployment rate in September, above Florida's 4.4% statewide rate, and the Sebring area, next door to Hardee County, was at 6.3%, according to state data released Friday.

Workers facing layoffs can seek help from CareerSource Polk and CareerSource Heartland, the regional workforce boards that typically coordinate job placement and retraining services when a large employer files a WARN notice. Laid-off workers may also file for state reemployment assistance through FloridaCommerce.

What's next

Separations are scheduled to begin Dec. 8. Mosaic has said the restart will depend on sulfur availability and costs, and it has given no date. Mosaic's third-quarter results, due in the coming weeks, may offer more detail on its curtailments in Florida, Louisiana and Brazil.

For farmers and consumers, the broader question is how long the sulfur squeeze lasts. Mosaic has warned that global phosphate output could fall well short of last year's levels, and as long as shipping through the Strait of Hormuz remains disrupted, fertilizer producers in Florida and elsewhere face higher costs to keep plants running.