Tampa: Domestic supply and demand for molten sulfur remained mostly balanced last week, though operational activity indicated a slight tightening likely due to seasonal refinery turnarounds, a source said.
In an effort to beef up freight capacity going forward, rail operators are seeking rate increases of 3-5 percent for all 2015 business, said one industry source. The rate hikes are expected to reflect in first-quarter sulfur pricing.
A Nov. 11 fire at the Northern Tier Energy refinery in St. Paul Park, Minn., forced workers to evacuate, sources said. The blaze started in a vacuum tower and burned for more than an hour before being extinguished by refinery personnel. The facility was in turnaround at the time of the incident, and no chemical releases were reported.
The fourth-quarter price of molten sulfur at Tampa was $129/lt CFR, $7/lt below the third-quarter price of $136/lt CFR.
Domestic refinery capacity continued to expand last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Utilization grew to 90.1 percent of capacity for the week ending Nov. 7, a 1.7 percent increase from the previous week’s 88.4 percent logged. The current total was also higher than the year-ago rate of 88.7 percent and the five-year average of 86.4 percent.
Average daily crude inputs increased to 15.752 million barrels/d, a 267,000 barrel/d rise over the prior week’s 15.485 million barrels/d average.
U.S. Gulf: Sources called the U.S. Gulf price of sulfur $130-$135/mt FOB.
Vancouver: Sources described renewed demand at Vancouver last week thanks to firming prices in the Chinese market. Recent spot sales garnered netbacks of $135-$140/mt FOB, but one industry source claimed a number of buyers were awaiting settlement of the fist-quarter Tampa price – still at least six weeks away – to confirm Vancouver pricing before purchasing.
Despite earlier views that Vancouver contracts would continue to soften as the fourth quarter progressed, many now believe prices have stabilized around $135-$140/mt FOB for the near term.
Oil Sands refiner Syncrude 21, which has been hampered in recent months by hydrogen sulfide gas levels at loadout, pushed back its target date for resuming loading. Revised estimates call for the facility to return to production no earlier than Nov. 24.
Sulfur shipped from Alberta was quoted in a range of (-)$20-$80/mt, unchanged from the week before.
West Coast: Prilled sulfur exported from California was unchanged at $130-$135/mt FOB.
The fourth-quarter price of molten sulfur was $90-$130/lt.
Benelux: The fourth-quarter price of Benelux sulfur remained unsettled last week, sources said. Pricing for the third quarter was $158-$172/mt FOB.
ADNOC: Sulfur sold by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. was priced at $135/mt FOB for the month of November.
Aramco: Saudi Aramco reduced its price to $125/mt FOB for the month of December, a $3/mt decrease from November levels of $128/mt FOB.