Sulphur exports from Kazakhstan are likely to drop in August as crushed lump sulphur from Kashagan runs out with the existing block depleted.
Crushed lump delivered from Kashagan are believed to be stopping this week from the 6 August, as the latest revision of the stockpile meant that the expected six further trains will not be delivered.
The shortfall on previous expectations is around 23,400t. In July as much as 82,000t was railed in crushed lump form out of an overall 200,000t of granular and crushed sulphur railed to seaports for export.
An overall quantity of 1.37mn t of sulphur has been railed from Kashagan to Ust Luga, Taman and Kavkaz this year from January to July, Russian rail data show. In July 112,000t was railed to Ust Luga in the Baltic, while 88,000t went to the Black Sea port of Taman.
Kashagan sulphur exports are expected to drop back to similar levels to before 2023, at around 1.2mn t rather than the 2.1mn t reached in 2024 as a result of the block drawdown now being completed.
