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Weekly Review of Sulfur for the Third Week of August Author/Source: Date: 2016-08-22 Clicks: 4 This week, the sulfur market remained stagnant, with a climate of caution persisting. The markets for fertilizers and sulfuric acid downstream showed weak performance, factories were cautious about purchasing raw materials, and the movement of resources at ports was slow. Most domestic refineries are operating at stable levels. The daily sulfur production from the Puguang gas field is around 2,200–2,500 tons; due to issues with the natural gas transmission pipelines, the production capacity is currently low, and as a result, sulfur production is also low. In the East China region, due to the impact of the G20 summit, fewer factories in the surrounding areas are operating, and logistics transportation is also restricted, putting significant pressure on refineries to ship their products. On the external market side, there are few deals involving US dollar-denominated resources; the reference price for mainstream Middle Eastern pellets is 83 dollars per ton. Chinese port market As of this Thursday, sulfur inventory at China’s major ports stood at 1.71 million tons, with slow consumption rates. Yangtze River ports: Nantong Port has a sulfur inventory of 700,000 tons, while Zhenjiang Port has 400,000 tons. The repatriation of sulfur by factories downstream is slow, so there is little change in inventory levels. In terms of trade, some factories make small purchases as needed, and there are also traders inquiring about prices to gauge market conditions; the requested price for the particles is around 680 yuan per ton, with not many negotiation discussions taking place. In the Yangtze River region, the price of particles remains roughly stable at 685 yuan per ton; sellers are not inclined to sell at lower prices, leading to a stalemate between buyers and sellers. The sulfur inventory in Fangchenggang is 382,000 tons; the situation regarding shipments to the port is not yet clear. Factories in the surrounding area are drawing down these stocks for their own use, and the market for spot trading remains sluggish. The reference price for bulk particles in Fangchenggang is 680 yuan per ton; the price is currently on hold. The sulfur inventory at Qingdao Port is around 80,000 tons. Traders are offering few quotes; actual transactions are based on negotiations. Recently, fertilizer factories in Shandong region have increased their operations, leading to a slight rise in purchasing by these factories. This week, a compound fertilizer factory purchased 1,500 tons of blocky sulfur, at a transaction price of 590 yuan per ton. The sulfur inventory at Jing Tang Port is 33,000 tons, and the transportation back to the factories is slow, with a daily transport volume of around 300 tons. The sulfur inventory at Longkou Port is 12,000 tons, and trade activity is sluggish. Domestic sulfur market This week, the domestic sulfur market remained stable overall; in some areas, prices were adjusted due to supply and demand factors, with an increasing number of manufacturers raising their prices. Following the explosion in the natural gas pipeline, the natural gas production at the Puguang gas field declined, and the operating rate of the sulfur processing unit increased slowly; currently, the daily production remains around 2,500 tons. The facilities at the Yuanba gas field are operating normally, but inventory levels are low. Supply of sulfur in the southwest region has tightened, and as a result, the prices of sulfur used for sulfur fixation at the Yuanba gas field and at the Wanzhou Port in the Puguang gas field have increased by 10 yuan per ton, reaching 690 yuan per ton this week. Affected by the G20 summit, the sulfur production units in Shanghai Petrochemical are operating at reduced capacity this week. The supply of sulfur in the East China region has tightened, leading to lower inventory levels among local manufacturers and better sales performance. Among them, the sulfur fixation price at Takahashi Petrochemical increased by 10 yuan per ton to 620 yuan per ton, while the prices of other local manufacturers remained stable, resulting in little pressure to sell products. The maintenance work at the Anqing petrochemical plant is proceeding as planned, which has alleviated the sulfur supply pressure in the areas along the river. Coupled with increased purchases by some downstream enterprises, several manufacturers raised the ex-factory price of sulfur by 10 yuan per ton this week; the ex-factory price of sulfur in Jingmen, Changling, and Jiujiang all reached 610 yuan per ton. Due to increased production, Wuhan Petrochemical faces relatively high shipping pressures, hence its prices remain stable. The sales of sulfur in South China have been fairly good recently; local manufacturers do not face much pressure to sell their products, and the ex-factory price of sulfur has stopped falling and remained stable. With the arrival of the sugar-canning season, production of food-grade sulfur by manufacturers increases, while the pressure for industrial-grade sulfur decreases accordingly. Sinochem Quanzhou raised the price of sulfur by 30–40 yuan per ton for two consecutive days this week, bringing the prices of solid and liquid sulfur to 590 yuan per ton and 560 yuan per ton respectively. Sulfur production and sales in the northwest and northeast regions remained stable, with prices staying largely constant. Tahe Petrochemical supplies sulfur mainly to local enterprises, and demand remains stable; as a result, the price has stayed at 750 yuan per ton for the past 3 months, which is the highest price for domestically produced sulfur. There are no plans for any price changes in the near future. Future outlook: Downstream fertilizer and sulfuric acid manufacturers face difficulties in selling their products, with no positive factors supporting demand, resulting in slow consumption of sulfur inventory. The overseas price shows a slight inversion, reducing procurement risks; if more shipments arrive in September, port inventories will rise again, further exacerbating the negative factors. Currently, caution remains high in the market, and it is expected that the sulfur market will continue to show a weak and sideways trend. (China Agri-Media)