Sulphur Suppliers CFR Aqaba, Jordan
A Red Sea port with phosphoric acid plants behind it and a new 900,000 t a year acid plant on order
Jordan declared 310,200 t of sulphur imports in 2024 at USD 37 million, about USD 120 per tonne, after 435,300 t in 2023. Saudi Arabia supplied 70% of the 2024 tonnage, the UAE 26% and Kuwait 4%. The Strait of Hormuz has been severely restricted since 28 February 2026: loadings inside the Gulf move irregularly and are confirmed cargo by cargo. The buyers are the phosphate producers: the industrial complex 15 km south of Aqaba port, with two sulphur-burning acid lines of about 2,250 t of acid a day each, and the phosphoric acid joint ventures at the Eshidiya mine in the south, where one acid plant of 2,000 t a day runs and a second, of about 900,000 t of acid a year, was contracted in February 2026 for USD 193 million with a 30-month build. That project lifts phosphoric acid capacity at the site from 330,000 to 550,000 t a year and adds roughly 300,000 t a year to the country's sulphur requirement when it starts. Jordan sits on the Red Sea, so Saudi sulphur loaded on the Red Sea coast reaches Aqaba without passing the strait when those terminals are lifting, and a 55,000 DWT ship loaded in the Gulf also sailed for Aqaba during the June pause. The country's phosphate rock exports fell 7.2% by value in the first half of 2026.
Sulphur discharges at Aqaba's industrial port for the coastal complex and moves by truck to Eshidiya. CBIL brokers formed granular sulphur (99.8% min, 2-6 mm, friability at or under 5%) in 20,000 to 50,000 t lots CFR Aqaba, loading Duqm and Sohar in Oman, Egypt and, subject to confirmation of loading, the Saudi Red Sea ports, with SGS or Intertek certification at load and the producing refinery or gas plant named on the certificate of origin. A requirement that states the buyer, laycan, discharge rate and LC-opening bank gets a firm answer; one without them gets a question first.
Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices salt and sulphur bulk freight on LaycanDesk.
The market in figures
- Declared imports
- 2024: 310,200 t, USD 37 million, USD 120/t · 2023: 435,300 t
- Origins, 2024
- Saudi Arabia 70% · UAE 26% · Kuwait 4%
- Acid plants
- Aqaba complex: two lines of about 2,250 t/d · Eshidiya: 2,000 t/d running
- New demand
- Second Eshidiya acid plant, about 900,000 t/yr, contracted February 2026 (USD 193 million, 30 months)
- Short-haul supply
- Duqm, Sohar (Oman) · Egypt · Saudi Red Sea ports (lifting confirmed per cargo)
- Discharge
- Aqaba industrial port; truck to Eshidiya
Landed values are the importing country's declared CIF, not CBIL prices.
Questions buyers ask
- Who buys sulphur in Jordan?
- The Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and its joint ventures, which burn sulphur for the sulphuric acid that turns phosphate rock into phosphoric acid and DAP at the Aqaba industrial complex and at Eshidiya. They buy cargo by cargo and on term. CBIL quotes suppliers and buyers with a named requirement.
- Is Jordan cut off by the strait restriction?
- Less than most. All of Jordan's 2024 sulphur came from Gulf states, but 70% was Saudi, and Saudi Arabia also loads sulphur on its Red Sea coast, a short haul to Aqaba that does not pass the strait; liftings there are confirmed with the terminal cargo by cargo. The 30% that came from the UAE and Kuwait is the part to replace.
- How much will the new acid plant add?
- The second Eshidiya plant is designed for about 900,000 t of sulphuric acid a year, which takes roughly 300,000 t of sulphur, about as much as Jordan imported in the whole of 2024. It was contracted in February 2026 on a 30-month schedule.
- What parcel sizes are workable?
- Handysize and Supramax lots of 20,000 to 50,000 t, granular, into Aqaba's industrial port. The complex is beside the port; cargo for Eshidiya is trucked inland, so the discharge rate and storage at the port are agreed before the ship is fixed.
- Can CBIL also fix the ship?
- Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices Handysize and Supramax tonnage within the Red Sea and from Oman to Aqaba, so a CFR and an FOB figure can be shown side by side.