Tampa: Domestic supplies of sulfur, which were already tight, took a hit last week. The outage affecting the Syncrude refinery, said to account for roughly 1,000 mt of sulfur production per day when operational, was extended at least through late May.
Originally expected to return to production in mid-February, Syncrude has continually announced new reopening dates as deadlines for the facility to return to production are missed.
U.S. oil refinery operating rates rose for the week ending April 11, according to data obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, after bottoming out four weeks ago. Sources attributed the upswing to refineries resuming production following their annual spring turnaround periods.
Outputs swelled to 88.8 percent, a 1.3 percent hike from the previous week’s 87.5 percent and 3.2 percent higher than the year’s low of 85.6 percent, posted for the week ending March 14. The rate was above the 86.3 percent reported for the same week in 2013, and beat the five-year average of 85.6 percent.
The second-quarter price of molten sulfur at Tampa was $133/lt DEL, an increase of $23/lt from the first quarter.
U.S. Gulf: Prilled sulfur sold in the Gulf of Mexico was static at $150-$160/mt FOB.
Vancouver: Contracts in the Vancouver sulfur market were quoted in a range of $170-$175/mt FOB, and were established near the height of the first-quarter market swell. Spot prices for the week were said to sit in a range of $140-$160/mt FOB, down from the previous week’s range of $140-$180/mt FOB.
Prices at Alberta were “all over the map,” as sources put the current market in a transition period where old contracts wrapped up at first-quarter levels and newer transactions were made at current market points. The resulting range was quoted at (-)$30-(+)85/mt, but that spread was expected to tighten in the coming weeks.
West Coast: The price of West Coast sulfur was quoted in a range of $140-$155/mt FOB, down from the previous level of $145-$160/mt FOB.
Benelux: Benelux announced a second-quarter settlement with its buyers in a range of $158-$172/mt, a $28/mt increase from the first-quarter price of $130-$144/mt.
ADNOC: The ADNOC sulfur price was set at $170/mt for April, down from the March price of $180/mt.