Tampa: Although a fair number of refineries were having problems last week, the overall refinery operating capacity rate rose from 91.9 percent to 92.6 percent, which were historically high numbers, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Even though much more oil was being processed, most of it was sweet crude, which produces less sulfur. Still, there was no sulfur shortage in the U.S.
Speculation on third-quarter molten sulfur prices for Tampa continued to foresee a drop of $10-$30/lt.
Recent problems at Mississippi Phosphates, coupled with turnarounds at Simplot and Agrium, worked to add to the sulfur surplus. In addition, Tropical Storm Debby dumped about 20 inches of rain on PotashCorps’ Fort White facility in North Florida, which will idle the plant for about two weeks as it recovers from flooding and a power outage.
U.S. Gulf: Prill prices exported from the Gulf of Mexico were said to be in the $180/mt range last week.
Vancouver: Prices in China were down about $25/mt on sulfur from Vancouver. It was not clear whether the problem originated after some traders overextended and had to make good quickly, or if the price was simply unsupportable.
Benelux: The current price range was $210-$228/mt FOB.