U.S. Gulf: Market watchers called sulfuric acid imported to the Gulf of Mexico in a $50-$55/mt CFR range, unchanged from the previous week. Tons destined for Brazil were heard at $55-$60/mt CFR, with recent Northwest European business described in the $15-$20/mt FOB range.
On the domestic side, Gulf business was quoted in the $90-$100/t DEL range, with Midwest deliveries steady at $80-$90/t. Material destined for the West Coast market was described at $100-$110/t DEL.
The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill on May 24 potentially clearing the way for reduced electricity rates available to large-scale industrial manufacturers. The bill must still clear the Senate before becoming law.
Lawmakers hope the legislation will provide incentives to partially reopen the state’s shuttered Noranda Aluminum plant, a 263,000 mt/y smelter located near New Madrid. The facility closed in 2016, a casualty of depressed aluminum prices, soaring electric rates, and a series of costly accidents, including a January 2016 power outage that shut down two of the facility’s three pot lines.