Category: Commodity

A complete list of all articles and news items appearing in Nitrogen+Syngas magazine during 2024.

Sulphur and sulphuric acid marketer Aglobis has signed a memorandum of understanding with logistics services company Rhenus to develop a sulphur remelter plant at Rhenus’s Terminal 4 in the river Rhine port of Duisburg, operated by Rhenus Port Logistics Rhein-Ruhr. Aglobis says that the development is a result of changing sulphur supply in Europe. Declining production from refineries and sour gas is leading to less liquid sulphur availability and greater imports of solid sulphur from overseas.

Global sulphur prices were mostly assessed flat in mid-January, with only slight changes for China, Indonesia and India, while the first quarter contracts for the Middle East, North Africa and Tampa increased from the previous quarter. Overall, the number of transactions taking place globally has declined as subdued demand has limited trading activity in most delivered markets. The current sulphur price environment has been shaped by the combination of rising Chinese demand and higher Middle East f.o.b. prices in the second half of last year. As a result, some consumer markets such as Indonesia and India have been subject to upward pressure in order to remain attractive destinations. But demand remained lacklustre across delivered markets, leaving prices relatively stable.

Nickel sulphate is an intermediate step in the production of materials for batteries, and is seeing rapid demand growth as the auto industry moves towards electric power trains.

Although China remains the world’s largest phosphate producer, it has been overtaken as the largest exporter by Morocco in recent years as domestic producers face continuing restrictions on exports.

Chile’s environmental regulator SMA has filed a charge against state-owned Codelco, alleging emission violations at its Potrerillos copper smelter in the Atacama region of northern Chile. An audit showed the company had not implemented a monitoring system for sulphur dioxide emissions and other procedures in accordance with environmental standards for the plant, Reuters news agency reported. The SMA labelled the charge as serious, which could lead to a fine of around $4.1 million, and possible revocation of the environmental permit or closure. Codelco had ten days to submit a compliance plan, and 15 days to present a defence.

The Caspian Sea region is home to extensive sour gas reserves which produce large volumes of sulphur. Exports are difficult, but the Kazakh uranium industry is consuming an increasing amount.

Sulphur prices may remain stable before decreasing on muted demand and transactions may increase in frequency contributing to price decreases in the first half of 2025.

Short term supply constraints are dominating acid markets at present, but increasing smelter production across Asia may lead to oversupply in the longer term.

CRU’s 2025 Phosphates Conference – now in its 16th year – will be held in Orlando, Florida, 31 March - 2 April next year. The 2024 event convened in Warsaw was one of the most successful to date (Fertilizer International 519, p4).