S&P and Argus describe Indonesian MHP producers, Halmahera Persada Lygend among them, switching to lower-cost elemental sulfur as sulfur-burning capacity ramps. About 1 tonne of sulfur yields about 3 tonnes of sulfuric acid, making Indonesia a swing sulfur consumer on relative sulfur versus acid economics. The Argus item is at https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/2614510-indonesia-s-ni-expansion-via-hpal-could-face-challenges.
July's customs print would show the switch: sulfur imports 425,000 tonnes, up more than 400 percent year on year, acid imports 64,000 tonnes, down 64 percent. January-July sulfur 1.92 million tonnes, up 39 percent. The June desk item is the company-level reason. The July item is the tonne-level result.
Relative sulfur versus acid economics is a delivered-cost decision. Chinese seaborne acid at 2024-25 flood rates, 4.65 million tonnes exported in 2025, can postpone the switch. Cheap elemental FOB, $78 Vancouver January-July, $116 China 2024 import average, can accelerate it. 2024 did both, then 2025 elemental prices rose 134 percent in the Chinese average, then 2026 acid halted.
Alberta recovered sulfur still leaves mainly through Vancouver. A swing Indonesian sulfur consumer is a swing Vancouver destination, when Middle East tonnes are available they still take 76 percent in the later CRU 2025 table. When they are not, Canadian solid is the residual. June 2024 is the switch starting, not the residual yet.
Argus's 5.17 million tonne 2024 HPAL acid demand and 7.12 million tonne 2025 expectation are the acid-unit path this elemental switch feeds. CRU's 6.7 million tonne nickel-sulfur path by 2028 is the longer path. Named producer Halmahera Persada Lygend is the mill example.
Tampa $81 in March, $76 in July, USGS, is soft phosphate beside this metals switch. Two books, one surplus. Licensed weekly grids are not restated.
The 1-to-3 sulfur-to-acid ratio is stoichiometry, not a price forecast.
Figures follow S&P and Argus as cited.