Tampa:
Sources continued to report tight U.S. sulfur stocks due to COVID-related refinery curtailments and recent winter storms. “It’s very quiet. Nobody has any product to sell,” said one source. “It’s very tough out there.”
The supply woes were noted impacting phosphate production, with a molten sulfur shortfall forcing second-quarter DAP and MAP production cutbacks at Mosaic’s Faustina facility. The cuts were expected to continue through the early summer.
Second-quarter Tampa molten sulfur contracts were valued at $192/lt CFR, doubling the first-quarter $96/lt CFR deal.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported nationwide refinery utilization at a combined 85.0 percent of capacity for the week ending April 16, unchanged from one week earlier. The rate stood above the year-ago 67.6 percent, while falling short of the 85.5 percent five-year average.
Despite the capacity rollover, daily crude inputs softened to an average 14.765 million barrels/d for the week, falling 286,000 barrels/d from the 15.051 million barrels/d rate posted previously.
U.S. Gulf:
Genscape on April 20 reported a 78,000 barrel/d catalytic reformer shutdown at the Marathon refinery in Galveston Bay, Texas. Workers initiated a restart on a 145,000 barre/d fluidic catalytic cracking unit (FCC) at the site, reported offline since Feb. 15. A previous restart attempt executed on April 4-15 failed to bring the unit to full operation.
ExxonMobil Corp. successfully restarted a 116,000 barrel/d FCC at the company’s Baton Rouge, La., refinery during the week. The unit was taken offline on April 8.
An unplanned repair outage continued on an 80,000 barrel/d FCC at Total’s Port Arthur, Texas. Increased heating of the unit was observed on April 20, although activity remained below operational levels.
Softer freight rates were pushing up available Gulf netbacks, sources indicated, lifting export price ideas to the $180-$185/mt FOB range. The market was last reported at $180/mt FOB.
Brazil:
Sources continued to put last-done Brazil transactions at $209/mt CFR, unmoved from the prior report. Q2 Brazil contracts were reported in the $213-$214/mt CFR range, rising from $116-$119/mt CFR in the first quarter.
Mexico:
An April 7 fire at the 285,000 barrel/d Pemex refinery at Minatitlan could keep production offline for up to 90 days, Reuters reported.
Vancouver:
Recent Vancouver prill pricing continued to be reported in the $170-$180/mt FOB range, steady from one week earlier.
Alberta:
Shell on April 19 restarted a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at its Scotford upgrader, located in Fort Saskatchewan, Genscape reported. On April 16-18, Suncor shut multiple units at the company’s Edmonton plant, including an 82,000 barrel/d crude distillation unit.
Alberta sulfur market netbacks were described as flat in the $65-$110/mt FOB range. The hefty spread included both molten material contracted into the U.S. market and prilled sulfur selling internationally through Vancouver.
West Coast:
Multiple units were taken offline throughout the week at BP’s Cherry Point, Wash., refinery, Genscape noted. Maintenance at the plant was scheduled to run from March 31 through May 30. Shell on April 17 powered down multiple units at its Puget Sound, Wash., refinery, including an SRU.
West Coast spot prills were steady at $170-$180/mt FOB, sources said. Molten sulfur tons loading from the West Coast were quoted in the $140-$155/lt FOB range for the second quarter, increasing from $70-$77/lt FOB in the prior period.
China:
China oil refinery outputs for March lifted 19.7 percent year-over-year, to 14.08 million barrels/d, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics and reported by Reuters. The increase reflected China’s ongoing bounce-back from early-2020 production curtailments driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
First-quarter throughput was up 16.5 percent from the year-ago, while March 2021 levels were down from 14.13 million barrels/d through the January-February period.
Sources reported no change in the China spot sulfur market, calling last-done steady in the $180-$200/mt CFR range.
ADNOC:
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. prills were posted at $185/mt FOB Ruwais for loading in April. Offers were noted at $183/mt FOB in March, a $2/mt difference.
Qatar:
April solid sulfur from Muntajat stood at $185/mt FOB Ras Laffan, sources said, a $2/mt increase from $183/mt FOB in March.