Category: Industrial

Hongda's 100,000 t/a zinc smelter, in China's Sichuan Province, completed scheduled maintenance and equipment upgrading and officially resumed production on 21st June, the company said. The smelter had been shut down for planned maintenance since January, during which time a modernisation project for the electrolytic zinc smelting system was also carried out. Following the nearly six-month revamp, the resumption of production is expected to improve overall operational efficiency, reduce unit production costs, and increase the utilisation rate, The company said. The stable supply of sulphuric acid generated by the zinc smelter will effectively leverage the synergies of the "sulphur-phosphorus" industrial chain in the company, an help alleviate cost pressures on the company's phosphorus chemical business segment.

• The market has paused as bearish buyer sentiment has not yet translated into lower spot prices. The direction of the next major deal is now the critical test. This will either initiate a downward price correction, validating buyer caution, or force a recognition of the market’s underlying tightness and bring purchasers back to the table at current levels.

The global sulphur market has entered a holding pattern, as a wave of bearish sentiment has so far failed to move stubbornly high spot prices. The departure of a significant volume of product from the Middle East has emboldened buyers and shifted market sentiment firmly towards bearish, but at time of writing this has so far failed to translate into lower prices. With sellers in no hurry to lower prices and spot availability still tight, the market has stalled as both sides wait for the other to blink first.

Nickel is becoming increasingly important to the sulphur and sulphuric acid markets, with Indonesia now a key importer.

The sulphuric acid market is seeing a contraction due to lack of sulphur availability, demand destruction in the phosphate sector and restricted Chinese exports.

The Phase I development of the Zhugongtang lead-zinc mine in Hezhang County, Guizhou Province, is entering its final construction stretch. Full-line wet commissioning is scheduled to commence on 30 September, marking the official start of the trial production phase. Formal operational acceptance and commercial production are targeted by the end of 2026, following successful completion of performance testing and all necessary rectification work.

South Korean metals producer LS MnM plans to use sulphuric acid recovered from copper-smelting operations to process nickel and cobalt for battery materials, linking its existing metals business with its expansion into the electric-vehicle supply chain. The company captures sulphur dioxide generated at its Onsan Smelter and converts it into sulphuric acid. LS MnM’s sulphuric-acid facilities have annual capacity of 1.925 million t/a, according to the company, providing a potential internal reagent source for hydrometallurgical processing.

While the power sector has been advanced as a major long term source of demand for emerging low carbon ammonia projects, the pace of development in leading proponents such as Japan and South Korea remains patchy.

Lyndsay Tran, Khanh Pham and Gabriela Olvera of Hatch look at the options for rare earth element (REE) recovery from phosphogypsum (PG) and their relative merits.

Green methanol has begun to be shipped to Austria's OMV from the Solar Park Kasso plant. The plant is operated by a joint venture between Mitsui & Co., Ltd, with a 49% share, and renewable energy company European Energy A/S (51%). The plant, located in Kassø, southern Denmark, was inaugurated on 13 May 2025 and is based on hydrogen derived from solar electricity from the adjacent 304 MW Kassø Solar Park, which is then combined with biogenic CO2 and distilled to 99.9% purity, suitable for combustion engines and plastics production. The plant makes 42,000 t/a of green methanol.