Tampa:
The Tampa molten sulfur market reportedly came to a standstill in advance of Hurricane Ian’s Sept. 27 landfall north of Fort Myers, Fla.
Due to the vacuum of information available regarding the status of phosphate production centers and mines in Florida, negotiations for the fourth-quarter contract price of molten sulfur delivered to Tampa were on hold as of Sept. 29. Prior to Ian’s arrival, sources speculated on a possible $90-$105/lt CFR landing spot for the updated contract, although a big impact to phosphate production could potentially offset perceived fundamentals in the market, players said.
The third-quarter Tampa molten contract was concluded at $352/lt CFR, down $129/lt from $481/st CFR in 2Q.
US operable refining capacity softened to 90.6% for the week ending Sept. 23, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), a decline from 93.6% during the previous week. Despite the lower rate, utilization continued to top both the year-ago 88.1% and the 86.9% five-year average.
Crude inputs fell to an average 15.751 million barrels/d for the week, a 604,000 barrel/d decrease from 16.355 million barrels/d reported one week earlier.
US Gulf:
Genscape reported the Sept. 27 shutdown of the 210,000 barrel/d VPS-4 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the Motiva Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. An associated 100,000 barrel/d vacuum distillation unit (VDU) was noted shutting concurrently with the CDU. A planned turnaround was expected to kick off at the site on Oct. 1.
The 97,000 barrel/d Pipestill 7 CDU and a 44,000 barrel/d VDU were reported successfully restarting at the ExxonMobil Corp. plant in Baton Rouge, La., on Sept. 22. The units went offline on Sept. 16.
Rising values at Brazil lifted Gulf indications to the $90-$110/mt FOB range, players said, increasing from $80-$95/mt FOB in the prior report.
Brazil:
Last-done spot business at Brazil was reported in the $120-$140/mt CFR range, above the previous $118-$120/mt CFR level. A rumored transaction in the upper-$150s/mt CFR went unconfirmed on Sept. 29.
Vancouver:
Vancouver prills continued to be reported in the $95-$100/mt FOB range, unmoved from the previous week.
Alberta:
Alberta sulfur netbacks continued to see indications in a wide $25-$282/mt FOB range.
West Coast:
West Coast prills were indicated at $95-$100/mt FOB, steady from one week earlier. Third-quarter West Coast molten sulfur contracts were quoted at $370-$385/lt FOB.
China:
Last-done China spot transactions continued be heard in the $135-$140/mt CFR range, unchanged from the prior report.
ADNOC:
Solid sulfur postings from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) were reported at $92/mt FOB Ruwais for loading in September, an increase of $7/mt from the $85/mt FOB level reported for August. Higher prices were expected in the company’s October posting, anticipated to be released soon.
Qatar:
Qatar prill offers were heard rising to $104/mt FOB Ras Laffan for October, up $15/mt from the $89/mt FOB level reported for September.