Argus reported China imported 2.4 million tonnes of sulfur in April-June 2022, up 50 percent year on year, on phosphate export demand, then slowed to 2.5 million tonnes in July-October, down 5.9 percent year on year. January-October imports totaled 6.65 million tonnes, down 22 percent from a year earlier after the second-half export quota regime. The viewpoint is at https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/2403764-viewpoint-increasing-supplies-pressure-chinese-sulphur.
The first-half surge and second-half fade defined 2022 Chinese sulfur trade. April imports of 719,800 tonnes, up 24 percent, with DAP and MAP exports falling 157 percent and 52 percent as inspections constrained outflows from mid-April, were the early-policy mixed print. July's de-facto quota is the hard stop. 6.65 million tonnes January-October is the net.
Alberta recovered sulfur still leaves mainly through Vancouver. Vancouver January-October exports of 2.39 million tonnes already exceeded full-year 2021, Argus citing the port, while China was contracting 22 percent. Canadian stems found destinations beyond a shrinking Chinese import year. The 2.79 million tonne annual would complete that diversification-plus-first-half-pull story.
June CIF near $471 per tonne and September $129, IndexBox, are the price path under the 6.65 million tonne volume path. Qatar August QSP $77 FOB from $428 in July is the Gulf marker. Vancouver FOB from $478 toward under $65 is the Pacific marker. Three prices, one Chinese quota.
Tampa $352 by mid-July from $481 in April, USGS, then $90 in the fourth quarter, is the Florida delay. Molten contracts lag seaborne spots. 6.65 million tonnes through October is the seaborne fact those contracts were catching up to.
Domestic Chinese sulfur and the Huaxicun trading halt from 16 June are the internal market. Buyers leaned on domestic tonnes, Argus said, as imports stayed selective. The 22 percent import drop is that lean. 2023's 16 percent volume recovery at half the value is the next chapter.
IFA's later still-below-2020 MAP and DAP in 2023 starts from this 2022 destruction. Nickel HPAL was not yet large enough to offset it. Licensed weekly grids are not restated. The 6.65 million tonne figure is Argus open news on China customs.
Figures follow Argus. January-October 6.65 million tonnes, down 22 percent, is the China-volume file of the crash.