SunSirs customs-linked figures put China's May 2026 sulfur imports at 268,300 tonnes, down 66.41 percent year on year, the second-lowest monthly volume in nearly 20 years, with average import price about $798.96 per tonne. The item is at https://www.sunsirs.com/uk/detail_news-34347.html. Cumulative January-May imports were 2.1154 million tonnes, down 51.44 percent year on year.
Phosphate fertilizer utilization reportedly fell toward about 40 percent for MAP and about 30 percent for DAP as sulfur costs soared as a share of production cost. That is demand destruction with a customs timestamp. Plants that are not running do not import 800,000 tonnes a month, the 2025 monthly average implied by SMM's 9.61 million tonne full-year 2025 import print.
Mid-March Chinese customs had stopped accepting export declarations for mainstream MAP, DAP, and related phosphates through August. A phosphate industry that cannot export and cannot afford sulfur does not restock seaborne cargoes. May's 268,300 tonnes is that policy and that cost landing in the monthly table.
SMM's later H1 customs review put January-June at about 2.26 million tonnes, down 57.7 percent, and June at about 0.147 million tonnes, a multi-year low. May was not the floor. It was the second-lowest in 20 years on the SunSirs telling, and June went lower. Gulf-4 share of the remaining mix halved. Canada, Oman, and South Korea rose.
Average May import price near $799 per tonne is a CIF China idea, not FOB Vancouver. An open H1 table later showed CFR China moving from about $547 per tonne in February toward about $1,075 per tonne in June, with Middle East-China freight from about $26-27 toward $161-170 per tonne. May's $799 average sits on that path. It is not a licensed weekly grid.
Alberta recovered sulfur still leaves mainly through the Vancouver stem. A Chinese monthly import at 268,300 tonnes is a missing bid on that stem. VFPA's 2025 China line was still 1.30 million tonnes. 2026 China is not 2025 China. Canadian June destinations later led with Indonesia and the United States, with China at 32,730 tonnes that month.
Tampa Q3 molten at $705 per long ton (Argus, https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news-and-insights/latest-market-news/2851577-tampa-3q-liquid-sulphur-price-hits-record-705-lt) shows US phosphate still contracting at a record. Chinese MAP at 40 percent and DAP at 30 percent show the other large phosphate system stepping down. The two-hub split is the 2026 market.
Indonesia's 76 percent 2025 dependence on Middle East sulfur, in CRU's May 22 note, plus ENC's late-June acid-plant startup, is why Pacific tonnes that China did not take still had a home. Southern Africa at 93 percent Middle East dependence did not have that Pacific option as easily.
Figures follow SunSirs' May customs-linked item. Licensed weekly assessment grids are not redistributed.