Nationwide CO2 Supply Shortage Addressed

Tri-State Carbonation's President Michael Taylor addresses the current CO2 shortage and how Tri-State Carbonation is balancing customer demand with the current supply issue.

We have to inform you of a nationwide CO2 supply shortage which is being caused by many factors out of our control and is affecting endless consumers.  

How is CO2 produced:  CO2 is basically a byproduct from various processes – primarily ethanol production from corn for gasoline and ammonia production for fertilizer.  There is never an over-abundance / open spigot of CO2 at any producer and any disruption with one or two can throw the entire USA supply chain into chaos quickly.  This summer we’re not seeing one or two – it’s a ‘bunch’ all at once.

Where is CO2 produced:  There is no CO2 produced in all of New England or New Jersey, one ethanol facility remains in New York State with limited production.  Most of our CO2 comes from the Midwest where it’s about corn, shipped East via rail.  CO2 depends on corn – for fertilizer from natural gas to help grow more corn and from ethanol that off-gases CO2 during the process. 

The producers and industry experts are telling us….

• The quality of the corn feedstock used for ethanol hasn’t been good
• Various fertilizer plants where CO2 is a byproduct are experiencing benzene contamination making it unsuitable for human consumption.
• Several facilities are down for planned annual maintenance, couldn’t happen at a worse time of course.
• A large source in Mississippi where CO2 comes naturally from the ground has had extensive contamination making unsuitable for usage in beverages.  (this could mean dozens of trailers per day not getting filled supplying Southern markets – forcing suppliers to divert CO2 from other sources to that region).
• The producers being ‘down’ cause railcar diversions, disruptions – chaos.

We’re working hard to source CO2 wherever we can, sending our tractor trailers directly to the Midwest but there is simply very little CO2 to get.  Suppliers across the USA are out of CO2, our phones are ringing continuously with end consumers and other distributors asking if we can supply them – which there’s no way to help.  (Many of these are now in the northeast including restaurants, bars, food producers and breweries).   We have more local / regional storage capacity than most distributors, firm supply contracts with producers and our own tractor trailers but the stars seemed to have aligned in the wrong direction.  

What we’re doing:  We started “short filling” customer tanks this week in order to stretch what supply we have during this shortage. 

If you’re able to put off any processes that use large amounts of CO2, we ask that you hold off if possible.  We have adjusted delivery schedules to reflect these ‘short fills’ in hopes to keep up with smaller deliveries as CO2 is available.

How long will it last?  That’s an unknown that no producers or at least none will get pin downed to any definite answer but word is 2 – 7 weeks. 

We’re working hard to keep our customers supplied and will make every effort to keep you informed of any updates.   Thank you for your understanding and patience.