Incitec Pivot has been forced to close its fertiliser plant at Phosphate Hill, in North West Queensland, for repairs to its final phosphoric acid reaction tank.
The company is facing losses of up to $58 million if the plant remains closed for the next month.
In a statement issued Friday, Incitec said the tank was essential to the operation of the plant as a whole.
The tank's continuous monitoring system detected a problem with one of the four baffles in the tank.
As a result the plant was taken off line on Friday night in preparation for a physical assessment.
The repair process is expected to commence early this week and depending upon the assessment, repairs could take up to a month.
If off-line for a month, Incitec says the financial implication of loss of production and cost of repairs is estimated to be in the range of $58m.
But it says the impact upon farmers should be minimal, arguing that "at this time of year, domestic demand for ammonium phosphate fertilisers is low with winter cropping seasonal demands largely met".
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