Demand for nickel sulphate is expected to rise rapidly this decade to feed increased battery production for electric vehicles. At the same time, diminishing sources of high grade nickel ores are leading to a renewed focus on high pressure acid leaching (HPAL) of laterite ores, with a significant impact on sulphur and sulphuric acid demand.
Copper major Freeport-McMoRan is reportedly on verge of finalising a $2.8 billion deal with China’s Tsingshan to build a copper smelter in Weda Bay, Indonesia. The Indonesian government said that the companies were aiming to conclude negotiations by the end of March. It also said that most of the financing will be borne by Tsingshan, with Freeport possibly only needing to provide funding for 7.5% of the total project cost. The smelter would have a copper concentrate input capacity of 2.4 million t/a.
Meena Chauhan, Head of Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for sulphur.
During the 10th Russian Corporate Governance Forum, Andrei Guryev, PhosAgro’s CEO and a member of the company’s board, was declared the winner in the category: “Contribution to the Development of ESG Culture”. PhosAgro’s Corporate Secretary, Sergey Samosyuk, was named the winner in the category “Corporate Governance Director/Corporate Secretary”.
All acid towers eventually require replacement. In this article, K. Sirikan, A. Mahecha-Botero et al of NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd discuss two recently executed acid tower replacement projects. The first project involved the replacement of a brick-lined tower by an alloy acid tower for a sulphur burning plant in North America. The second project involved the replacement of a brick-lined acid tower with a NORAM designed brick-lined tower for a smelter off gas acid plant in South America. The impacts of various design considerations on acid tower replacement projects are compared, including in-situ replacement versus a new location; brick-lined versus alloy shell, and selection criteria for mist eliminators.
Automatic identification and optimum online monitoring using sonic velocity measurements can now be used to determine the concentration of both sulphuric acid and oleum.C. Kahrmann and T. Knape of SensoTech report on a new user-friendly method of measurement providing a significant step towards automated process control.
Storm Uri which blanketed the southern states of the US with snow, and led to widespread power outages in Texas, has had a major impact upon US Gulf Coast and Southern-Midwest refined products supply. Most Gulf Coast refineries were shut down or forced to operate at reduced rates. IHS Markit estimated that more than 5.2 million bbl/d of Gulf Coast capacity and 730,000 bbl/d in PADD 2 was impacted by the winter weather at its height, and close to 20% of lower 48 US natural gas production was shut-in in the first half of February. A drop in crude oil production of between 2.2 and 4 million bbl/d was estimated.
Restrictions and lockdowns across the globe have significantly reduced oil demand, impacting refinery run rates. This has aided in reducing sulphur liquidity, supporting the short term view.
Suddenly it’s a good time to be a sulphur producer again. Sulphur prices started 2020 at a low point of $40/t, a level not seen for a decade or more. However, after a slight recovery when the pandemic hit and refineries began reducing production, since August the market trend has been rapidly upwards, now approaching levels of $200/t that have not been seen for a couple of years.