Sulphur 387 Mar-Apr 2020
31 March 2020
TSI Sulphur World Symposium 2020
CONFERENCE PREVIEW
TSI Sulphur World Symposium 2020
The Sulphur Institute is holding its annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois this year from April 20th-22nd.
Symposium Schedule 2020
The Sulphur Institute has selected Chicago, Illinois, USA, as the location for its Sulphur World Symposium 2020. Sited along the shores of scenic Lake Michigan, this world class city is the heart of America’s Midwest and the second most visited city in the country with 58 million visitors each year. Iconic landmarks include the Art Institute of Chicago, the Willis (Sears) tower and the famous Magnificent Mile.
The following are abstracts of some of the featured presentations and speakers.
What is next for sulphur and sulphuric acid markets after the swing to oversupply?
Both sulphur and sulphuric acid markets moved into oversupply during 2019 with a weakened demand environment being the primary trigger. Weakness in consumption was evident in both fertilizer and industrial markets the softer fundamental hitting demand in almost all major sulphur markets. From 2020, the outlook is more of a supply growth story with increased sulphur supply from project commissioning and IMO 2020 upgrades. Acid markets are more focused on the growing influence of the Chinese smelting sector in international acid trade.
The progress of projects for sulphur and acid supply will be discussed. Despite the upturn in supply there remain opportunities for demand to return to growth with a focus in new capacity in fertilizer and metals sectors. The potential for new phosphate fertilizer capacity additions exist around the world, but which are best positioned to make it into production. Nickel, copper and lithium based demand continue to offer high growth potential but when and where will the market grow.
This presentation will review the current market and highlight the factors determining whether the market can find a path out of the current demand deficit and examine if there is a likely shift to a long term supply surplus.
China’s role in the global sulphur and sulphuric acid industries
It is no longer an exaggeration to say “when China sneezes, the world catches a cold.” China’s outstanding economic growth has helped it in becoming an emerging global superpower. One testimony to its power is when the trade war between the US and China escalated in 2019, many economists downgraded their views on global economic growth. In terms of sulphur and sulphuric acid, China is one of the most influential markets in the world. As its population and purchasing power grows, its agriculture sector has also been expanding, complemented by the rising capacities of Chinese phosphate fertilizer production. This supported China’s imports of 11.7 million t/a of sulphur in 2019 and placed it on top of the world sulphur import league. The country has also transitioned from being a net importer of sulphuric acid to a net exporter as more smelting capacity comes on stream. Having exported 2.2 million t/a of sulphuric acid in 2019, its export volume is right behind the world’s biggest export countries – Japan and South Korea.
This presentation will review China’s principal import and export trade flows. It will also look into three main features that make China a unique market and have helped it in becoming a force to be reckoned with in the sulphur and sulphuric acid markets.
- Long-term planning/centralised power. With centralised power, China is able to work on long-range planning that helps the development of many industries, including the agriculture sector. One example that is relevant to agriculture as well as the sulphur and sulphuric acid markets is how China has been working on improving the environmental quality of its water, air, and land in favour of rapid economic growth over the past years.
- A huge market, more open than ever. China’s size has helped it in becoming the world’s biggest sulphur import market, and now a major sulphuric acid exporter. A huge market size also encourages the emergence of many tools in trading, including the Huaxicun paper market, of which we will discuss its influence on the global sulphur market.
- A large number of state-owned companies that compete with each other. State-owned companies have easy access to loans, and this is just one of the reasons certain industries in China are able to grow so rapidly. Several state-owned smelters, for example, are still able to run and export acid despite when export values have fallen to below zero.
Understanding sulphur’s full potential – an integrated marketers perspective
For many Sulphur producers, Sulphur is merely a by-product of oil and gas production, something to be evacuated and ultimately exposed to a volatile commodities market. As a business dedicated to maximizing the end to end value of Sulphur, Shell Sulphur Solutions brings a different perspective to the Sulphur story. As one of the worlds few fully integrated Sulphur marketers, Shell has cultivated strong relationships across the Sulphur value chain and particularly in the fertilizer sector.
This presentation will help to illuminate the difference in value between Sulphur as a commodity and Sulphur as a plant nutrient. Review the history of S0ulphur fertilization, understand the benefits of different Sulphur sources, and explore what the needs of the future might look like. Finally we will explore some of the options available to Sulphur producers looking to capture additional value from their Sulphur supply, among them, Shell’s Thiogro technologies.
Participants will ultimately leave with an understanding that Sulphur is much more than a commodity; it is integral to our daily lives and will play a crucial role in attaining global food security sustainability.
