Tampa: The Canadian Syncrude plant was slated to return to production May 20 after a long hiatus. The plant, offline since the beginning of the year and initially estimated to return to production around Feb. 14, has seen consistent delays in its attempts to reopen.
The resurrection of the Syncrude plant is potentially significant to a multitude of North American sulfur markets. Sources said the plant is capable of producing around 1,000 mt of sulfur per day, an amount capable of sharply altering available supply once full production is reached – likely sometime in July.
Early in the shutdown, observers worried that the missing supply would prove to be an issue to the market. Although incremental sulfur supply has reportedly been tight in some quarters, large-volume buyers have consistently reported contract tons to be readily available throughout the outage. It remains to be seen, however, what effect the sudden influx of extra supply will have on prices.
U.S. refinery operating rates declined for a second consecutive week, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Total U.S. operating capacity for the week ending May 9 dipped to 88.8 percent, down 1.4 percent from the previous week’s 90.2 percent. The current numbers were slightly ahead of last year’s 88 percent and the five-year average of 87.2 percent, however.
The second-quarter price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa was $133/lt.
U.S. Gulf: The price of sulfur in the Gulf was $130-$145/mt FOB, unchanged from the previous week.
Vancouver: Sources speculated that Syncrude’s return to production could have a measurable effect on the international market, as a sizable portion of that supply could wind up tagged for export to countries like China, where sources said supply may be snug.
The Vancouver spot market was unchanged at $125-$140/mt FOB.
The extra Syncrude supply could also end up influencing the Alberta market, where incremental material was said to be tight in recent months. The price of sulfur sold from Alberta was quoted at (-)$30-(+)$85/mt FOB, unchanged from the previous week.
West Coast: Sulfur sold from the West Coast was static at $120-$135/mt FOB.
Benelux: The Benelux price was $158-$172/mt for the second quarter, an increase from the first-quarter price of $130-$144/mt.
ADNOC: The May ADNOC price was $145/mt, a decrease of $25/mt from the April price of $170/mt.