Sulfur: Supply tightens and fluctuates upwards

In the first half of the year, the domestic sulphur market continued to hit new highs in the same period in recent years, and the overall trend was volatile and upward
.

At the end of June, the market price of granular sulfur in Zhenjiang Port was around 1,600 yuan (ton price, the same below), an increase of 640 yuan from the beginning of the year, an increase of 66.

The market is not short in the off season

The market is not short in the off-season market is not short in the off-season

In the first half of the year, the domestic sulphur market as a whole fluctuated upwards, showing the characteristics of the off-season
.

In January, stimulated by the sharp rise of 18-22 US dollars in the contract price in the Middle East, the domestic sulphur yellow market rose rapidly
.

At the beginning of February, the external market continued to rise sharply, and the domestic source price also caught up.

Entering April, after a period of adjustment, the news that the sales bidding price of Formosa Plastics was in the mid-high FOB 170 US dollars and the rumors of the high sales bidding price in Qatar allowed the holders to regain the mental support, and then waited for the market with optimism.
Under the operation of reluctance to sell, the negative sentiment of buyers' hesitation was dissipated, and the sulfur market rose again
.

Entering May, the U.

Although the original supporting factors still existed in June, when the sulfur price once again rose to this year's high, the willingness of traders to wait cautiously on the market gradually increased, and it was difficult for the port trading interest to be mobilized on a large scale.
Most of the time, it was in a stalemate game situation, resulting in sulfur.
The price is within a narrow range around 1600 yuan
.

　　External disk high pull

External disk high pull External disk high pull

　　Si Bin, a sulfur analyst at Longzhong Information, believes that there are three reasons for the strong performance of the domestic sulfur market.
First, the external market continues to be strongly driven
.

Affected by COVID-19, the international supply of sulfur has been showing a tightening situation.

　　Second, the downstream phosphate fertilizer market maintains a good operating situation
.

In the first quarter of domestic demand and exports, and the situation of exports in the second quarter is very good, domestic phosphate fertilizer companies have maintained a relatively high level of operation

　　Third, the supply of resources is limited, port inventory has dropped significantly, and cargo rights tend to be concentrated
.

Due to the high price of sulphur on the outside and the apparent upside-down in the domestic spot market, importers’ enthusiasm for purchasing has been suppressed, and at the same time, the consumption of existing sources of domestic ports has been accelerated, which has further concentrated the ports’ sources of supply

　　The market outlook will fluctuate slightly

　　The market outlook will fluctuate slightly 　　 The　　market outlook will fluctuate slightly

　　What is the trend of the sulfur market in the second half of the year? Xu Xinxin, a sulfur analyst at Zhuo Chuang Information, believes that the recent shortage of international sulfur supply will not be significantly improved for the time being, and it is unlikely that the external price will immediately fall sharply after it has risen
.

The sulfur market has not had a major negative impact for the time being, and it is basically in a stable and stalemate with small fluctuations

　　However, from the perspective of long-term supply, the domestic supply of sulfur will increase in the second half of the year
.

At present, the second phase of Zhejiang Petrochemical's 600,000 tons/year project is in trial operation, and the output will be gradually released in the second half of this year; Shenghong Refining and Chemical Plant plans to operate at the end of the year.

　　From the perspective of domestic port inventory and import volume, the domestic port sulfur inventory at the end of June was still above 2 million tons, while the import volume fell significantly from April to May.
It is expected that there will be unstable factors in demand in the second half of the year
.
If there are limited fluctuations in ocean freight and U.
S.
dollars, the import volume is expected to drop significantly compared with the first half of the year, and the annual import volume may be around 8 million tons
.

　　"Under the situation of tight international sulfur supply, the overall price of external disks still tends to fluctuate at a high level, while the trend of the domestic sulfur market is closer to the supply and demand situation
.
" Xu Xinxin analyzed
.