Section: CRUSU Market & Features

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.

New concepts focused on the transfer and combination of existing sulphur and sulphuric acid technologies to support decarbonisation of the sulphuric acid industry are being investigated. In this article three research projects are discussed: sulphur dioxide depolarised electrolysis for green regeneration of spent acid, use of renewable heat and catalyst to the splitting process from sulphuric acid to SO2 for reduction of fossil fuel consumption, and sulphur as an energy vector.

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.

The 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in the European Union are driving oil and gas producers to reduce CO2 emissions wherever possible. This extends to even the incinerator attached to a sulphur recovery unit (SRU). In this article Sulphur Experts review the role of the incinerator, how the three most common European TGUs each affect the demand on the incinerator itself, and the potential reduction in CO2 emissions for a generic facility of each type.

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.

A complete listing of all articles and news items that appeared in Sulphur magazine during 2024.

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.

Due to ever stricter legislation towards lower SO2 emissions, superior catalyst shape and composition has become ever more important. Jochen Willersinn of BASF SE explains how BASF’s high-performance catalyst O4-116 Quattro combines the benefits of an increased surface area with a superior caesium-promoted active phase composition enabling significantly lower ignition and operating temperatures and thus reducing SO2 emissions.

This study introduces a new platinum-promoted honeycomb catalyst for sulphur dioxide oxidation, designed to enhance energy efficiency and reduce emissions in sulphuric acid production. Compared to conventional vanadium oxide based catalysts, the platinum-based catalyst demonstrates higher catalytic activity, lower ignition temperature, and significantly reduced toxicity.

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.