Granular Sulphur

Decide on the lane and the handling, not the chemistry, because they are chemically the same. Granular survives long voyages, transhipment, grab discharge and open stockpiling with low fines generation; lump is cheaper per tonne but dusts, degrades and discharges more slowly. If the cargo crosses an ocean or passes through a terminal that will not tolerate dust, take granular. If you have a short lane and a melter, price both and compare delivered cost rather than headline price.

It is the granule's resistance to breaking down into fines under mechanical handling, measured by a standard tumble or drop test, and a well-formed granule stays at or under about 5%. It matters because every conveyor transfer, grab and hold converts weak granules into dust that you paid freight on, cannot discharge cleanly and then have to manage as a fire and housekeeping hazard. It is the single number that separates a good granular lot from a nominally compliant one.

Yes. Acid plants and fertilizer producers generally want a term structure with a monthly lifting schedule priced off a published quarterly or monthly contract price, and that is how most Middle East allocation is sold. Spot cargoes are workable where allocation is available. Tell us your annual tonnage, discharge port and preferred pricing basis and we will structure to it.

SGS or Intertek quality and quantity certification at load port covering purity, moisture, ash, acidity, organic carbon, arsenic, selenium and tellurium, plus screen analysis and friability, with draft survey or shore-scale quantity certification at both ends. If your incoming spec is tighter than the standard sheet — a lower carbon limit and a tighter fines cap are the usual ones — tell us before we work the allocation, because it changes which source can serve you.

Phosphate makers, who burn it to sulphuric acid. In Morocco the buyer is OCP, at its Jorf Lasfar and Safi complexes; 51% of Morocco's 2025 sulphur came from inside the Gulf. In India the buyers are phosphate and complex-fertiliser plants and metal refiners on both coasts; India imported 2.25 million MT in 2025, 55% from inside the Gulf. Brazil imported 2.32 million MT in 2025, 41% from inside the Gulf, for phosphate plants supplying its soy and corn belt. The Strait of Hormuz has been severely restricted since 28 February 2026. Brazil's imports in January to August 2026 were about 830,000 MT, half the volume of the same months of 2025, at an average declared value of about USD 609/MT against USD 217/MT, and the United States supplied a larger share. CBIL quotes granular sulphur from outside the Gulf in Supramax lots.

Copper-cobalt leach plants in the Katanga copperbelt of the DR Congo, and phosphoric acid producers in South Africa. The DR Congo imported about 1.77 million MT in 2024, 84% from inside the Gulf; cargoes land at Dar es Salaam, Durban or Richards Bay and are trucked inland, so a buyer prices FCA port plus road freight. FCA Dar es Salaam prices rose from about USD 600/MT before the restriction to USD 1,000–1,200/MT for small parcels. South Africa imported about 383,000 MT in 2025, 89% from inside the Gulf, and its January to May 2026 imports fell 68% to about 56,000 MT. CBIL quotes bagged and bulk granular sulphur CFR Dar es Salaam, Durban and Richards Bay.

In Madagascar the buyer is the Ambatovy nickel-cobalt plant at Toamasina, which leaches its ore with acid made from imported sulphur; Madagascar's 2025 imports were about 444,000 MT, 88% from inside the Gulf. In Jordan the buyer is the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) and its affiliates, with acid and fertiliser plants supplied through Aqaba; Jordan's 2024 imports were about 310,000 MT, all from Gulf states, 70% of it Saudi. Saudi sulphur loaded at Yanbu on the Red Sea is the short-haul route into Aqaba when the terminal confirms a lifting, and a sulphuric acid plant signed for the Shidiya mine in February 2026 adds demand. CBIL quotes both on CFR terms.