Tampa: Mosaic and PotashCorp settled third-quarter supplier contracts for the price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa last week. The new price of $137/lt is retroactive to July 1, and represents a $5/lt increase from the second-quarter price of $132/lt.
Locked to the Tampa index, the Houston and U.S. Gulf molten prices rose to $122/lt and $126/lt, respectively.
Industry players primarily credited strengthening international markets for the increase. When the Chinese market bottomed around $150/mt CFR in mid-April, worldwide markets froze while awaiting price direction. China started to firm in the weeks leading up to the start of third-quarter negotiations, eventually landing in the low-to-mid $160s/mt CFR.
The Middle East markets then followed suit with summer price increases, signaling to the domestic market a need to keep up. A widening gap between the Gulf offshore and Tampa prices also contributed to the increase, one source said.
Domestic refining capacity moved up last week, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA put refinery utilization at 95.3 percent for the week ending July 10, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous week’s 94.7 percent, and also up from last year’s 93.8 percent and the five-year average of 92.4 percent. The rate represents the highest second-week July total since 96.2 percent was recorded on July 8, 2005.
Daily crude inputs rose to an average 16.825 million barrels/d for the week, a jump of 229,000 barrels/d from the prior week’s 16.596 million barrels/d.
U.S. Gulf: Gulf prills were quoted in a range of $135-$145/mt FOB, unchanged from the week before.
Vancouver: Vancouver spot prices were called firm last week, with upward potential. The China sulfur market’s $162-$165/mt CFR levels put most Vancouver netbacks in the low $140s/mt FOB, although a smattering of transactions in the low $150s/mt FOB were relayed as well.
Sources said third-quarter contracts had begun settling in a range comparable to spot.
Sulfur production from Alberta refiner Syncrude 21 continued last week after efforts to increase hydrogen sulfide levels at load-out appear to have paid off, though not entirely. “They are still well below an acceptable (hydrogen sulfide) level,” one source said.
Early third-quarter Alberta molten contracts mostly settled at a rollover to second-quarter prices of (-)$10-$85/mt, market players said, although some expected levels to rise $5/mt in step with the Tampa settlement as the quarter wears on.
West Coast: The price of formed sulfur sold from the West Coast was called $130-$140/mt FOB last week, unchanged for the previous report.
Third-quarter California molten contracts fell in a range of $75-$125/lt FOB, down from second-quarter levels quoted at $90-$130/lt FOB.
ADNOC: Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. sulfur was priced at $150/mt FOB Ruwais for July, a $5/mt increase from June.
Aramco: Continuing a summer firming trend in the Middle East markets, Saudi Aramco raised its August price of formed sulfur to $152/mt FOB Jubail, an $8/mt hike from the prior month’s $144/mt FOB.
Aramco announced that Saudi Arabia’s Yasref refinery, a joint endeavor between Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec), reached full operating capacity in late June, processing a milestone 400,000 barrels/d. The facility began commercial operations on April 1.
Tasweeq: July Tasweeq offers were $149/mt FOB Ras Laffen, an $8/mt premium to the June price of $141/mt FOB.