Author: meninderkaurdavies

Sulphur’s annual survey of recent, current and future sulphur recovery unit construction projects maps the developing shape of brimstone production from fuel and gas processing plants worldwide.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) forward oil prices for May dropped into negative territory during mid-April, on fears of lack of storage capacity to deal with the excess production. Forward prices for June were also nosing to equally unprecedentedly low levels.Elsewhere, Brent Crude spot prices dropped to $20/bbl, a fall of $50/bbl from the start of 2020.

A look at the major factors influencing the sulphur market around the world.

How the macro market responds to the coronavirus pandemic over the months ahead and governmental response in different parts of the globe will likely have a lasting impact on the outlook for the sulphur market.

Ordinarily I try to choose a different subject each issue for an editorial, but as April lengthens towards May, and here in the northern hemisphere we start to see the first signs of summer, there unfortunately remains only one subject that is obsessing every industry, and that is the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact upon every aspect of our lives. Since our last issue we have all had to come to terms with ‘lockdown’ and ‘social distancing’, as the grim toll of deaths climbs in all regions. Here at BCInsight we are working without an office as best we can, and issues of Sulphur will continue to land in your email inboxes, but paper copies of the magazines may take longer to arrive, if at all, as shipping and customs procedures are tightened all around the world, and I can only apologise and ask that you bear with us.

Meena Chauhan, Head of Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for sulphur.

Nitrogen+Syngas’s annual listing of new ammonia, urea, nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants shows that the key areas for new project developments are Egypt, India, Nigeria and Russia.

Rice is one of the world’s most popular food staples, providing around one-fifth of the total global calorific value of human diets. Cultivation and consumption is particularly prevalent in Asian countries. We look at the nutrient needs of this widely-grown cereal.

With more than 15 million hectares of land watered by drip irrigation globally, the technology’s agricultural potential remains enormous. Fertigation – the ability to manage and regulate both water and plant nutrients – is a key advantage helping drive worldwide growth.

Newly-developed froth flotation schemes, equipment and reagents are improving selectivity and the grade and recovering of phosphate concentrates