India sulphur prices ease as buyers hold back

Sulphur prices in India are slipping. Granular sulphur is now at $930–980/t CFR, down from $960–980/t a week earlier, after some suppliers agreed to lower prices. Crushed lump has eased to $900–920/t CFR from $920–930/t.

Buyers in India and Indonesia are bidding $875–900/t CFR, below the $900/t mark, and sellers have not yet accepted that level. Most of India’s prompt needs are already covered. East coast fertilizer producers are negotiating just one cargo for November arrival.

Middle East producers have cut their October prices. Adnoc lowered its price for the Indian subcontinent by $70/t to $890/t FOB Ruwais. Kuwait cut its price by $45/t to $820/t FOB. Freight from the Gulf to India’s east coast is still very high, at about $145–155/t, because of the security risks around Hormuz. That puts Adnoc’s contract tonnes at well over $1,000/t delivered, above where spot cargoes are trading.

Supply is improving. Several sulphur vessels that had been stuck in the Gulf since July have crossed the strait of Hormuz in the past two weeks. Attacks on shipping in the region continue, so the risk has not gone away. Recent arrivals in India include a 70,000t cargo at Paradip for IFFCO in early October.

India has had to source from further away this year. Canada shipped about 150,000t to India in January–August, after shipping none last year.

Domestic refinery sulphur is priced at about Rs105,000/t ex-works. Most of it is going to fertilizer producers, because chemical makers cannot make money at that price. The sugar industry will keep buying small volumes until January.

Fourth-quarter contract talks are under way, and buyers expect prices to fall by $50–150/t. Prices are likely to ease further over the next month or two. The remaining risk in the Gulf and low stocks held by consumers should limit how far they drop.

This also matters for India’s phosphate costs. Lower sulphur prices and softer phosphoric acid offers in Bangladesh point to a lower fourth-quarter phosphoric acid price for India.