Tag: Sulphur

Maire Group says that its NextChem (Sustainable Technology Solutions) subsidiary has been awarded a three-year contract by Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical (SATORP) – a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies – to provide engineering and technology services related to the sulphur recovery complex of SATORP’s refinery in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. NextChem will provide process and engineering advisory services to enhance performance, support operational troubleshooting, and improve energy efficiency and the carbon footprint of the three units (sulphur recovery unit, amine regeneration unit and sour water stripper) which comprise the sulphur recovery complex. The services will also include recommendations for capital investment opportunities, design enhancements, and technology improvements.

TotalEnergies and its partners Basra Oil Company and QatarEnergy have begun construction works at ArtawiGas25, a processing facility for the associated gas from the Ratawi field, located in the Basra region. The facility, part of the Gas Growth Integrated Project (GGIP), represents an investment of around $250 million and will process 50 million scf/d of gas which would previously have been flared. The gas will supply local power plants, covering the demand of approximately 200,000 households in the Basra region. The GGIP project is a $10 billion project designed to enhance the development of Iraq’s natural resources and improve the country’s electricity supply. It includes a large-scale gas processing plant, with a first phase of 300 million scf/d that will recover gas being flared on three oil fields and supply gas to 1.5 GW of power generation capacity.

Global sulphur benchmarks rallied at the end of February, underpinned by strong demand in Indonesia and stock drawdowns in China as fresh European sanctions on Russia targeted the port of Ust-Luga. Chinese buyers paid up to $225t/t c.fr for a cargo, with unconfirmed rumours of business at even higher levels. However, delivered prices still lag domestic port spot prices in China, which are now assessed at a delivered-price equivalent of around $242/t c.fr. China’s delivered sulphur price jumped significantly as port inventories declined, and new arrivals were limited. Only two new cargoes were reported in the last week of February, one from a mainstream source into southern China at $205/t c.fr, and the second at $225/t c.fr by a phosphate producer for the Yangtze River. The sulphur port spot transaction price is reported at around 2,0402,050 yuan/t FCA ($281-283/t), with the low-end up $26/t and high-end up $25/t compared with previous settlements. That port price indicates delivered values at around $242/t c.fr, which is $17/t higher than the import price on the Yangtze. Phosphate producers need to purchase more sulphur to meet the increased buying activity in northeastern market and the improving spring application season demand in northern China. Still, market sales availability is limited, as most port tonnes are held by traders instead of end-users, while traders are selling limited quantities now to push prices higher. Chinese total port inventory dropped to 1.89 million tonnes by 26 February 2025. The quantity at Yangtze river ports declined 59,000 tonnes to 633,000 tonnes, while Dafeng port inventory decreased 20,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes.

The past few weeks have seen sulphur prices spiking after a steady rise since 3Q 2024. At time of writing, delivered prices to a variety of locations were around $280/t c.fr, their highest level since mid-2022 when the price of commodities of all kinds jumped in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions. Steady buying from Indonesia and China, the two largest importers of sulphur, appears to have supported the market, in China’s case mainly for phosphate production as well as a variety of industrial processes, and in Indonesia’s case to feed the high pressure acid leach (HPAL) plants that are producing nickel for the battery and stainless steel industries. Although Chinese buying has dropped off slightly since Lunar New Year, and demand has also slackened in India, Indonesia’s appetite continues unabated, having tripled its nickel production since the start of the decade to become the world’s largest producer, representing 60% of global supply in 2024.

TotalEnergies has signed agreements with Air Liquide to develop two projects in the Netherlands for the production and delivery of some 45,000 t/a of green hydrogen produced using renewable power, generated mostly by the OranjeWind offshore wind farm, developed by TotalEnergies (50%) and RWE (50%). These projects will cut CO2 emissions from TotalEnergies’ refineries in Belgium and the Netherlands by up to 450,000 t/a and contribute to the European renewable energy targets in transport.

Russian media reports suggest that a large scale Ukrainian drone strike on February 3rd attacked a number of oil and gas processing facilities, including Gazprom’s Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant. Video of the site showing fires burning were posted to social media. Astrakhan is one of the largest sulphur producing sites in Russia, with an output of around 3.5 million t/a in 2024. The Moscow Times reported that production had been shut down at the site, and would likely remain so for “several months”.

Price trends and market outlook, 20th February 2025

Grupa Azoty has started production of a new sulphur-enriched fertilizer at its Police complex in Poland.

NextChem (Maire) is awarded a three-year engineering and technology services contract by Satorp in Saudi Arabia to improve energy efficiency and carbon footprint

Sulphur and sulphuric acid marketer Aglobis has signed a memorandum of understanding with logistics services company Rhenus to develop a sulphur remelter plant at Rhenus’s Terminal 4 in the river Rhine port of Duisburg, operated by Rhenus Port Logistics Rhein-Ruhr. Aglobis says that the development is a result of changing sulphur supply in Europe. Declining production from refineries and sour gas is leading to less liquid sulphur availability and greater imports of solid sulphur from overseas.