The end of June saw declines in sulphur prices in many regions amid subdued global demand across regions. Most import markets are sufficiently covered through July at least, resulting in limited activity while supply increases. These conditions have exerted downward pressure on prices as bearish sentiment spread across regions.
Caitlyn India Pvt Ltd (CIPL) has announced a $46 million investment to build a 50,000 t/a phosphoric acid plant in India. The plant aims to reduce import dependence and boost the country’s fertiliser self-sufficiency. Commissioning is planned for the financial year 2027. The facility, to be set up in a port-accessible industrial zone in southern India, will use hemihydrate-dihydrate technology to produce high purity phosphoric acid and cleaner gypsum by-products. A captive sulphuric acid unit will also be included to support efficient operations. Initially, the acid produced will supply Indian fertiliser manufacturers, with plans for captive use in future fertiliser production.
Titanium dioxide is one of the major chemical uses for sulphuric acid outside of phosphate and metals processing, and sulphate route plants remain concentrated in China.
President Donald Trump delayed his ‘liberation day” tariffs by three months on 9th April, while simultaneously ramping up levies on China. In this latest twist to the on-off US tariffs saga, the Trump administration’s 90-day pause on additional duties should provide international suppliers to the world’s biggest fertilizer market with some respite – for now. With the exception of China, the US will now cut back its so-called ‘reciprocal tariffs’ to 10% for the duration of a three-month suspension period. The European Union’s tariff is now halved to 10%, for example, with the trade bloc also pausing its trade countermeasures against the US.
Adani Group subsidiary Kutch Copper has commenced operations at its new Mundra copper refinery and smelter, the company announced on 28 March. The company previously indicated an expected start-up by the end of Q1. The new smelter will help boost domestic supplies of copper, demand for which is robust from the construction, transport and power sectors in particular and likely to double by 2030, with the shift towards clean energy and electric vehicles. This first phase of the project will have around 500,000 t/a copper capacity, with a similar capacity planned to be added in the second phase by 2029.
It is reported that Tongling Nonferrous is planning production cuts this year given current record low treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs). CRU estimates that the company’s potential cutbacks will total 67,000 tonnes of copper for the year. However, the start-up of the Jinguan II and Chifeng Jinjian II projects could offset the reduction in concentrate demand at operational smelters. Tongling Nonferrous owns five operational smelters/refineries with a total of 1.28 million t/a blister capacity and 1.73 million t/a refined capacity, respectively. It is understood that the Chifeng Jintong 220,000 t/a smelter has cut operating rates by 10% since early March due to concentrate tightness.
Indonesia has become the epicentre of the world nickel industry, and is now seeking to raise royalty rates to capture more value from this. Will this impact upon the continuing expansion of HPAL capacity there?
Thyssenkrupp Uhde’s BioTfueL® technology has been selected for the BioTJet project by Elyse Energy and its partners (Axens, Avril, IFPEN). This project will produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from end-of-life wood waste and local forestry residues. together with the addition of green hydrogen. By 2029, BioTJet will supply sustainable aviation fuel to reduce carbon intensity in air
Daewoo Engineering & Construction has signed a $700 million framework agreement to build a fertilizer plant in Turkmenistan. The agreement was signed in Seoul with Turkmenistan's state-owned chemical firm, Turkmenhimiya, according to the Turkmen Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, noting the Korean firm was named the preferred bidder for the project in October. The project aims to construct a fertilizer plant that will extract phosphoric acid from phosphate rocks and process the substance into 300,000 t/a of annually in eastern Turkmenistan by 2029.
While the US tariff situation remains subject to considerable uncertainty, there has already been an impact on short term trade flows, as well as investment decisions.