Does CBIL work Indian government or state-enterprise sulphur tenders?

No. CBIL does not work government or state-enterprise tenders, and does not act on a "mandate" without a letter from the buyer on its own paper. Requirements from private acid and fertiliser plants get a question first: the named buyer, the discharge port, the laycan and the LC-opening bank. With those four things stated we go to the producer; without them we do not.

Granular or lump for an Indian discharge port?

Granular. Indian sulphur is discharged by grab to open stockpile, often through the monsoon months, and moved by conveyor or truck to the melter. Lump breaks down at every transfer into fines that blow, cake when wet and cannot be discharged cleanly. A formed 2-6 mm granule with friability at or under 5% arrives as loaded. The plants on both coasts are built for it and most terminals will not take lump in volume.

What parcel sizes are workable?

Bulk cargoes of 30,000 to 65,000 t on Supramax and Panamax tonnage into Paradip, Vizag, Kandla and Mundra, sized to the berth draft on the laycan. A buyer taking 100 to 500 t a month is not a bulk buyer: that programme goes in 1 t jumbo bags in containers on a liner schedule, priced and certified differently. Tell us which of the two you are.

What certificates travel with the cargo?

SGS or Intertek quality and quantity at the load port: purity, ash, acidity as H2SO4, moisture, organic carbon, H2S, screen analysis and friability, with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant. A radiation-free certificate is added where the buyer's customs or plant asks for it. Draft survey or shore-scale quantity at both ends.

Indian Ocean · India

Granular Sulphur Suppliers CIF India (Paradip, Vizag, Kandla, Mundra)

The world's largest sulphur import market, fed from the Gulf and now loading outside the strait

India declared 2,252,167 t of HS 2503 sulphur imports in 2025, up from 1,959,937 t in 2024 and about 1.63 million t in 2023. Oman was the largest origin in 2025 at 773,557 t (34%), then the UAE at 579,109 t (26%), Qatar 264,254 t (12%), Saudi Arabia 211,438 t (9%), Kuwait 168,725 t (7%) and Japan 51,889 t (2%). The cargo goes to the phosphate and sulphuric-acid complexes: Paradip on the east coast, where the two large phosphatic plants sit beside the port, Visakhapatnam, and the Gujarat coast at Kandla, Mundra and Sikka. Paradip takes Capesize tonnage to 155,000 DWT on a 16.5 m draft; Vizag handled 82.62 million t of all cargo in FY 2024-25; Mundra has Capesize berths and a 25,000 t/day fertiliser bagging plant. Most sulphur into these ports arrives in Supramax and Panamax parcels, discharged by grab to open stockpile and then to the melter.

The loading map changed on 28 February 2026, when the Strait of Hormuz closed to commercial traffic; a June truce reopened it briefly and it closed again on 20 June, with the July agreement breaking down on 8 July. Gulf sulphur for India now loads only from ports outside the strait: Sohar, Sur and Duqm in Oman, the Saudi Red Sea terminals, Fujairah on the UAE's east coast, and, for the balance, the US Gulf. CBIL brokers granular sulphur (99.8% min, 2-6 mm, friability at or under 5%) from those origins on CFR and CIF terms to a named Indian discharge port, with the producer named before any offer. A requirement that states the buyer, discharge port, laycan and LC bank gets a firm answer; one without them gets a question first.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices Gulf to India sulphur and fertiliser freight on LaycanDesk.

The market in figures

Declared imports, 2025: 2,252,167 t (2024: 1,959,937 t; 2023: c. 1.63 million t)
Largest origins, 2025: Oman 34% · UAE 26% · Qatar 12% · Saudi Arabia 9% · Kuwait 7% · Japan 2%
Discharge ports: Paradip (Capesize, 16.5 m draft), Visakhapatnam, Kandla, Mundra (Capesize berths)
Loading points outside Hormuz: Sohar, Sur, Duqm (Oman) · Saudi Red Sea · Fujairah · US Gulf
Parcel size and form: Supramax to Panamax bulk, granular 2-6 mm, 99.8% min; jumbo bags for small lots

Official trade data; sources listed below. Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.

Questions buyers ask

Does CBIL work Indian government or state-enterprise sulphur tenders?: No. CBIL does not work government or state-enterprise tenders, and does not act on a "mandate" without a letter from the buyer on its own paper. Requirements from private acid and fertiliser plants get a question first: the named buyer, the discharge port, the laycan and the LC-opening bank. With those four things stated we go to the producer; without them we do not.
Granular or lump for an Indian discharge port?: Granular. Indian sulphur is discharged by grab to open stockpile, often through the monsoon months, and moved by conveyor or truck to the melter. Lump breaks down at every transfer into fines that blow, cake when wet and cannot be discharged cleanly. A formed 2-6 mm granule with friability at or under 5% arrives as loaded. The plants on both coasts are built for it and most terminals will not take lump in volume.
What parcel sizes are workable?: Bulk cargoes of 30,000 to 65,000 t on Supramax and Panamax tonnage into Paradip, Vizag, Kandla and Mundra, sized to the berth draft on the laycan. A buyer taking 100 to 500 t a month is not a bulk buyer: that programme goes in 1 t jumbo bags in containers on a liner schedule, priced and certified differently. Tell us which of the two you are.
What certificates travel with the cargo?: SGS or Intertek quality and quantity at the load port: purity, ash, acidity as H2SO4, moisture, organic carbon, H2S, screen analysis and friability, with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant. A radiation-free certificate is added where the buyer's customs or plant asks for it. Draft survey or shore-scale quantity at both ends.

Sources

UN Comtrade, reporter 699 (India), HS 2503, imports, 2025: world 2,252,167 t; Oman 773,557 t; UAE 579,109 t; Qatar 264,254 t; Saudi Arabia 211,438 t; Kuwait 168,725 t; Japan 51,889 t (read 27 Sep 2026).
UN Comtrade, reporter 699, HS 2503, imports, 2024: world 1,959,937 t; 2023: sum of declared partners 1,630,208 t (no world row published).
Paradip Port Authority, paradipport.gov.in: Capesize vessels of LOA 300 m, 155,000 DWT, maximum draft 16.5 m; entrance channel 17.1 m.
Visakhapatnam Port Authority, vizagport.com: 82.62 million tonnes handled in FY 2024-25.
Adani Ports, Mundra: berths for post-Panamax and Capesize bulk carriers; fertiliser bagging plant, 25,000 t per day.
Wikipedia, 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis (read 27 Sep 2026): closure from 28 February 2026; MoU 17 June; strait closed again 20 June; truce broke down 8 July.
SeaVantage, Strait of Hormuz crisis 2026 timeline: strait effectively closed from 28 February 2026; Saudi Arabia moving crude by the East-West pipeline to Red Sea loading terminals.
Plant locations (IFFCO Paradeep and Kandla, PPL Paradeep, Coromandel Visakhapatnam, GSFC Sikka) are the companies' own published sites; none is a CBIL counterparty.