Chinese domestic solid sulfur prices climbed through 2021 from pandemic-era lows near Yn500-950 per tonne in 2020 toward peaks around Yn2,200 per tonne, the highest in roughly a decade. December import CFR was reported near $310 per tonne, about Yn2,300 equivalent, widening the gap versus inland domestic offers as freight and Gulf FOB rose together. The item is at https://www.chemnews.com.cn/c/2022-01-18/691210.shtml.
Yn2,200 domestic and $310 CFR is a tight physical market heading into 2022. May 2022 river-port Yn4,000-4,020, Argus sample, would be the next step up. December 2021 is the last 2021 print, already a decade high, not yet the 2022 blow-off. 2020's Yn500-950 is the pandemic trough that TFI's later plus 198 percent March 2021 to March 2022 would measure from in US terms.
Alberta recovered sulfur still leaves mainly through Vancouver. Canadian FOB into a $310 CFR China bid is a better netback than into 2020's cheap CIF, even if the harbour printed a 14 percent down year. Stems take months to programme. December prices do not fill a 2021 calendar. They fill 2022's first-half surge.
Argus's 28 October Middle East FOB at $223-230 per tonne, after breaching $200 earlier in the month, and Brazil CFR near $245-246, up more than $100 since the start of 2021, are the seaborne markers under this Yn2,200 domestic. DAP rallies and Chinese phosphate export uncertainty drove the firming, BC Insight and Argus price-trend notes said. October 15 inspections are the policy date.
Zhenjiang stock at 0.52 million tonnes from 1.09 million at year-start is the inventory counterpart. High domestic price, high CFR, low port stock: three tightness prints. Import dependence still near 50 percent is why seaborne origins still mattered. Argus's 40 percent Chinese production-growth call toward 2025 is why they would matter less later.
Tampa fourth quarter $183, USGS, after mid-June about $192, is the Florida rhyme. Vancouver 2.29 million tonnes is the volume lag. Licensed weekly grids are not restated. The Yn2,200 and $310 figures are China Chemical Information Weekly.
Middle East-Yangtze freight toward $69 per tonne from about $27 early in the year is the ocean layer. Canadian Pacific freight is a different lane. Both rose in the 2021 dry-bulk rebound. Delivered cost into China rose even when FOB was only moderately firm versus 2022.
Figures follow China Chemical Information Weekly. Yn2,200 domestic solid is the 2021 China-price high before 2022's Yn4,000 May peak.