Kuwaiti state-owned sulphur producer KPC has rolled over its Kuwait Sulphur Price at $520/t fob Kuwait.
This follows announcements from Qatar's state-controlled QatarEnergy and Abu Dhabi state-owned Adnoc that they are also rolling over their March prices. Middle East sulphur exports are largely stranded because of the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, as a result of the US-Israel war with Iran.
The strait of Hormuz is the main export route for Mideast Gulf crude oil, gas and sulphur shipments. Vessel traffic through the waterway has almost come to a standstill since the US and Israel began launching air strikes on Iran on 28 February. Tehran has responded by attacking other countries in the region, including targeting oil and gas infrastructure and shipping.
A Chinese-owned Handymax bulk carrier safely transited the strait of Hormuz over the weekend, moving east to dock at Fujairah in the UAE, ship-tracking data. It is the second such case in recent days.
The 53,395 deadweight tonne KSL Hengyang passed through the strait during the night of 6–7 March, having loaded sulphur in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. It set sail from Jubail on 3 March, idled in the Gulf for more than a day, resumed its voyage on 5 March, and has now moved to anchorage at Fujairah, data from analytics firm Kpler show.
Sulphur production falls
Sulphur production has fallen as result of the war in the Middle East, causing the previous softening price trend to reverse since last week.
- KPC has started to reduce its crude output and refinery run rates, after oil exports were effectively halted because of the war, the company said 7 March. KPC has issued a force majeure notice on its crude and refined products exports, it said in a statement on 7 March. Sulphur production is expected to be reduced by at least 2pc. Kuwait exported 2.4mn t of sulphur last year.
- Qatar has shut down its massive LNG production complex at Ras Laffan after attacks near the facility. QatarEnergy's sulphur production capacity is around 3.8mn t/yr, and it exported 3.4mn t last year. The majority of the firm's sulphur comes from the Ras Laffan complex, with a small share of production at Mesaieed.
- Iran has launched drone strikes at Saudi Arabia's 102,000 t/yr sulphur capacity Ras Tanura refinery, Kuwait's 146,000 t/yr Mina al-Ahmadi refinery and Bahrain's 210,000 t/yr b/d Sitra refinery. The Ras Tanura facility has been off line since early last week.
