State-owned QatarEnergy Marketing has rolled over its March Qatar Sulphur Price (QSP) at $520/t fob Ras Laffan/Mesaieed.
The announcement was expected on 1 March, but was deferred following the 28 February US-Israel attack on Iran and the subsequent counter-attacks on the wider region.
It remains unclear if product can be exported through the strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed to shipping since the conflict started. Several vessels have been hit by drones and missiles, and some maritime insurance providers have pulled insurance provisions as a result.
QatarEnergy announced on 3 March that following a 2 March drone attack on Ras Laffan, the supplier would halt sulphur production alongside LNG and all associated products.
Sulphur offer prices to delivered markets have since risen substantially from other origins bypassing the region, but buyers are taking a wait-and-see approach.
But Middle East volumes would be subject to much higher freight costs as a result of heightened risks and backlogs, while vessels have built up on either side of the strait waiting to transit to either load sulphur, or to deliver loaded cargoes to consumers outside of the region. Port loadings have mostly continued as usual, and if traffic opens in the coming days the disruption could be resolved relatively quickly, but the risk of a prolonged conflict in the wider region is increasing uncertainty of sulphur availability among buyers.
