AXcess News: High Energy Costs a Boon to Some Fertilizer Manufacturers.

RENO, Nev. -- While higher energy costs plague Wall Street and America's agricultural community as a whole, some companies are making the most of it and showing improved results that are attracting the eye of the investment community.

Terra Nitrogen Co. shares reached a 4-month high on the NYSE Monday, crossing its 200-day trading average.

CF Industries Holdings Inc. announced plans to build a nitrogen fertilizer plant in the Caribbean just two weeks ago. CF shares were glowing still; trading in the upper teens two weeks after that news hit the market.

UAP Holding Corp., which went public last year, is skirting near its 52-week high after announcing that it successfully amended a $175 million credit facility and a five-year senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility in an aggregate principal amount of $675 million.

The Andersons Inc., an agribusiness retail company, said it was wading into the ethanol manufacturing business. The company operates fertilizer distribution terminals and produces granular lawn fertilizer products for major retailers throughout the country as well as professional lawn care and golf course markets.

Itronics Inc. (OTCBB: ITRO), a maker of alternative liquid fertilizer from recycled photochemicals, reported strong results for the first two months of the second quarter yesterday with a 50% increase in sales and 39% for the first five months of the year. Itronics chief executive John Whitney attributed the increase to "more retail stores carrying the GOLD'n GRO product line and an expanding customer base" in California despite a wet spring planting season.

Itronics recently closed a $3 million financing, which proceeds were partially used to triple its North Reno manufacturing plant's capacity. The company's bulk liquid fertilizer processing capability can now keep up with market demand. The enviro-ag company's fertilizer is proving itself a viable alternative to traditional fertilizers as higher fuel costs drive up those companies' costs, which are passed through to the farmers, though its shares still lag those developments.

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