Tag: Demand

Sulphur is becoming an increasingly important crop nutrient, due to a combination of lower airborne sulphur emissions, the increasing prevalence of high analysis fertilizers, and higher cropping intensities.

Th e past year has seen an extraordinary run-up in sulphur and sulphuric acid prices, the former from a low of around $50-70/t f.o.b. in mid-2020 to more than $100/t higher than that at the end of Q1 2021. Prices then plateaued for much of this year, but they have begun moving inexorably upwards again in the past couple of months, drawn by rapidly rising phosphate prices, and Middle East sulphur rates recently breached price levels not seen since 2012.

Although the number of new sour gas developments has slowed in recent years compared to the large boost of the previous decade, sour gas projects continue to be a major source of new sulphur production.

Lithium-boron miner ioneer Ltd has awarded DuPont Clean Technologies a contract for the license, engineering, and supply of proprietary equipment for a planned sulphuric acid plant at the company’s Rhyolite Ridge project in Nevada. DuPont will work with engineering partner SNC-Lavalin on the plant design, using MECS® sulphuric acid technology for the 3,500 t/d sulphur-burning unit, as well as controls that limit emissions to among the lowest in the world for this type of facility. DuPont will also supply its latest generation MECSSuper GEAR® ™ catalyst and other critical proprietary equipment. The contract is conditional on a final investment decision by the ioneer board of directors.

Developments in sulphuric acid technology and engineering know-how are highlighted by recent project case studies from DuPont Clean Technologies, Metso Outotec and thyssenkrupp Uhde.

The latest developments in the recovery and commercialisation of fluorosilicic acid, rare earth elements (REEs) and uranium co-products associated with phosphoric acid production.

We report on the state of US fertilizer production and supply. The US industry – the second-largest finished phosphates producer and third-largest urea producer globally – has grown and developed alongside North America’s mature and sophisticated domestic farming sector.

2021 is turning out to be a very good year for profits and earnings. Take Nutrien and Yara International, for example, the fertilizer sector’s two biggest companies by market capitalisation.

Boron is a key micronutrient required by fruit and vegetables and crops such as corn, cotton, rice, soybean and sugar cane. The agricultural importance of boron and the wide range of products on the market are described.

In an exclusive, broad ranging interview, Wendall Boehlje, technical sales agronomist at U.S. Borax (part of Rio Tinto), talks to Fertilizer International about the launch of two new agricultural market products by U.S. Borax earlier this year.