Tampa: Sources described a slow week on the sales side of the domestic sulfur market. Many in the industry were said to be busy planning for the upcoming TFI World Fertilizer Conference in September, as well as fine-tuning marketing strategies for 2015 in the face of the pronounced structural changes experienced by the industry in 2014.
The city of Richmond, Calif., approved a plan by Chevron to modernize its 257,000 barrel/day refinery there. The upgrades, projected to be completed in 2016 at an estimated cost of $1 billion, include replacing a 1960s-era hydrogen plant and reducing emissions, while capping the total volume of sulfur the facility will be allowed to process.
U.S. refinery operating capacity fell for the third consecutive week. American refineries utilized 91.6 percent of their operable capacity for the week ending Aug. 8, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (USEIA), a decrease from 92.4 percent the week before. The rate was up from the 89.4 percent posted for the same week in 2013, however, and also ahead of the five-year average of 90.5 percent.
The third-quarter price of molten sulfur at Tampa was $136/lt DEL, an increase of $3/lt over the second quarter price of $133/lt DEL.
U.S. Gulf: The price of sulfur exported from the Gulf of Mexico was $145-$150/mt FOB.
Vancouver: Spot prices to China continued to slide as that country moves into its domestic fertilizer season and “high export tax window.” Prices were said to have drifted into the $170s/mt CFR from the low $180s/mt CFR reported the week before.
Sources expected the softening Chinese market to test offer levels out of Vancouver for the next round of business, but nothing was confirmed yet. For now, the spot price of sulfur at Vancouver was reported as unchanged at $140-$170/mt FOB.
Reports out of Alberta were that Syncrude 21 had returned to shipping sulfur after suspending loading in early July. The facility was reportedly operating at approximately 80 percent of capacity for the week.
Syncrude’s return to production came as another major Oil Sands upgrader was set to enter a late-August turnaround. As a result, traders hopeful for a sudden boost of incremental supply from Syncrude will likely be disappointed, sources said.
The price of sulfur sold from Alberta was quoted in a range of (-)$20-$80/mt.
West Coast: Sulfur sold from the West Coast was unchanged at $140-$145/mt FOB.
Benelux: Benelux sulfur was $158-$172/mt for the third quarter.
ADNOC: Sulfur sold by ADNOC was $175/mt for the month of August.