Granular, lump or powder for a Pakistani plant?

Granular for anything discharged by grab and stored in the open or under cover: a formed 2-6 mm granule with friability at or under 5% arrives as loaded, feeds a melter cleanly and does not blow or cake in the Karachi humidity. Lump breaks down at every transfer and is refused by most terminals in volume. Powdered and insoluble grades are a different product for the rubber and tyre industry and ship in bags; ask us about those separately.

What parcel size makes sense for Pakistan?

The country's whole seaborne requirement is Handysize-sized. A 10,000 to 30,000 t parcel CFR Port Qasim covers one SOP or acid producer for several months, or two or three of them sharing a hold, and is discharged at the FAP fertiliser berth or Karachi Port to a covered stockpile. A plant taking 200 to 1,500 t a month is a container buyer in 1 t jumbo bags on a liner schedule; it is priced and certified differently and we say so rather than force a bulk fixture.

Which origins can load now?

Oman's Sohar and Duqm refineries, Fujairah on the UAE east coast, the Saudi Red Sea terminal at Yanbu when the terminal confirms a lifting, the US Gulf formers and Vancouver. Each is a named producer with a certificate of origin from the refinery or gas plant. The producer's name and load port go on the offer before the price does.

What certificates travel with the cargo?

SGS or Intertek quality and quantity at the load port: purity, ash, acidity as H2SO4, moisture, organic carbon, hydrogen sulphide, screen analysis and friability, a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, draft survey or shore-scale quantity at both ends, and a radiation-free certificate where the buyer's customs or plant asks for it. Payment is by irrevocable letter of credit at sight from a Pakistani bank, confirmed where the seller asks.

Can CBIL also fix the ship?

Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices Handysize tonnage from Sohar, Duqm, Fujairah and the Red Sea to Port Qasim and Karachi, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Indian Ocean · Pakistan

Granular Sulphur Suppliers CFR Port Qasim and Karachi, Pakistan

Seaborne granular sulphur for Pakistan's sulphate of potash, single superphosphate and sulphuric acid plants

Pakistan declared 108,634 t of HS 2503 sulphur imports in 2025 (USD 9.6 million, USD 89 per tonne) and 117,800 t in 2024 (USD 91 per tonne). The declared origins are mostly overland: Uzbekistan supplied 37,999 t in 2025 by rail and road, and seaborne lots from the Republic of Korea (2,132 t), the UAE (1,563 t) and Saudi Arabia (4,667 t) were small. The buyers are sulphur burners. Pakistan's sulphate of potash industry runs on the Mannheim process, which needs about 0.2 t of sulphur per tonne of SOP: the plants at Port Qasim (50,000 t a year), Gwadar (20,000 t), Rahim Yar Khan (40,000 t) and Bhikhi (20,000 t) cut operations to 50-75 per cent of capacity in April 2026 for want of sulphur, and domestic sulphuric acid rose from about PKR 100,000 to PKR 300,000 per tonne (USD 1,077) between February and April 2026. Single superphosphate producers in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, merchant acid plants and the textile, sugar and battery industries that buy acid from them sit behind the same feedstock. The large DAP complex at Bin Qasim runs on imported phosphoric acid and is not a sulphur buyer, which is why Pakistan's tonnage is a Handysize and container market rather than a Panamax one.

CBIL brokers formed granular sulphur (99.8% min, 2-6 mm, friability at or under 5%, ash 0.05% max, acidity 0.02% max) in 10,000 to 30,000 t Handysize parcels CFR Port Qasim and Karachi, and in 1 t jumbo bags in containers for plants taking 200 to 1,500 t a month, loading Sohar and Duqm in Oman, Fujairah, the Saudi Red Sea terminal at Yanbu, the US Gulf formers and Vancouver. Sulphur ships as UN 1350, class 4.1, under the IMSBC Code, with a wash-down and moisture protocol for grab discharge. Every cargo ships against SGS or Intertek certification at load (purity, ash, acidity as H2SO4, moisture, organic carbon, hydrogen sulphide, screen analysis, friability) with the producing refinery or gas plant named on the certificate of origin; a radiation-free certificate is added where the buyer's customs or plant asks for it. Pricing follows the Argus and CRU Middle East FOB and CFR India assessments with a differential for the parcel and the freight; we quote per lot. An acid or fertiliser producer that states its monthly tonnage, form, discharge port, storage and LC-opening bank gets a firm answer from a named producer; one without them gets a question first.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices Handysize bulk freight on LaycanDesk.

The market in figures

Declared imports: 2025: 108,634 t, USD 9.6 million, USD 89/t · 2024: 117,800 t, USD 91/t
Declared origins, 2025: Uzbekistan 37,999 t (overland) · Saudi Arabia 4,667 t · Republic of Korea 2,132 t · UAE 1,563 t · balance overland
Sulphur burners: SOP (Mannheim) plants at Port Qasim 50 kt/yr, Gwadar 20 kt/yr, Rahim Yar Khan 40 kt/yr, Bhikhi 20 kt/yr · SSP and merchant acid plants in Punjab and KP
2026 market: SOP plants at 50-75% of capacity (Apr 2026) · domestic sulphuric acid PKR 300,000/t (USD 1,077), from PKR 100,000 in Feb 2026
Loading points and parcels: Sohar, Duqm (Oman) · Fujairah · Yanbu (Saudi Red Sea) · US Gulf · Vancouver — 10,000-30,000 t Handysize, or jumbo bags in containers
Discharge: Port Qasim FAP fertiliser berth (14.5 m, 2 x 1,600 t/h) or Karachi Port, grab to covered stockpile

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

Questions buyers ask

Granular, lump or powder for a Pakistani plant?: Granular for anything discharged by grab and stored in the open or under cover: a formed 2-6 mm granule with friability at or under 5% arrives as loaded, feeds a melter cleanly and does not blow or cake in the Karachi humidity. Lump breaks down at every transfer and is refused by most terminals in volume. Powdered and insoluble grades are a different product for the rubber and tyre industry and ship in bags; ask us about those separately.
What parcel size makes sense for Pakistan?: The country's whole seaborne requirement is Handysize-sized. A 10,000 to 30,000 t parcel CFR Port Qasim covers one SOP or acid producer for several months, or two or three of them sharing a hold, and is discharged at the FAP fertiliser berth or Karachi Port to a covered stockpile. A plant taking 200 to 1,500 t a month is a container buyer in 1 t jumbo bags on a liner schedule; it is priced and certified differently and we say so rather than force a bulk fixture.
Which origins can load now?: Oman's Sohar and Duqm refineries, Fujairah on the UAE east coast, the Saudi Red Sea terminal at Yanbu when the terminal confirms a lifting, the US Gulf formers and Vancouver. Each is a named producer with a certificate of origin from the refinery or gas plant. The producer's name and load port go on the offer before the price does.
What certificates travel with the cargo?: SGS or Intertek quality and quantity at the load port: purity, ash, acidity as H2SO4, moisture, organic carbon, hydrogen sulphide, screen analysis and friability, a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, draft survey or shore-scale quantity at both ends, and a radiation-free certificate where the buyer's customs or plant asks for it. Payment is by irrevocable letter of credit at sight from a Pakistani bank, confirmed where the seller asks.
Can CBIL also fix the ship?: Yes. Our chartering desk, LaycanDesk, prices Handysize tonnage from Sohar, Duqm, Fujairah and the Red Sea to Port Qasim and Karachi, so a CFR and a FOB figure can be shown side by side.

Sources

UN Comtrade, reporter 586 (Pakistan), HS 2503, imports, 2025: world 108,634 t, USD 9.63 million; Uzbekistan 37,999 t, USD 3.3 million; Saudi Arabia 4,667 t; Republic of Korea 2,132 t; UAE 1,563 t; China 85 t (public preview API, read 30 Sep 2026). 2024: 117,800 t at USD 91/t; Uzbekistan 26,000 t; Saudi Arabia 14,000 t; Oman 2,000 t; Korea 1,600 t (desk pull, 28 Sep 2026). Overland origins other than Uzbekistan are not carried on this page.
Argus, 'Pakistan SOP output cut on sulphur shortage: Update', 13 Apr 2026: Barket Fertilizers 50,000 t/yr at Port Qasim, Agven 20,000 t/yr at Gwadar, Suncrop 40,000 t/yr at Rahim Yar Khan and Akbari 20,000 t/yr at Bhikhi cut to 50-75% of capacity from 80-90%; 0.2 t sulphur per t SOP; sulphuric acid PKR 300,000/t (USD 1,077) from PKR 100,000 in February 2026; bagged granular SOP PKR 260,000-280,000/t ex-warehouse. Company names are published facts, not CBIL counterparties.
VIS Credit Rating, Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited: DAP capacity 670,000 t/yr; phosphoric acid imported from Morocco. PACRA fertiliser sector report, Feb 2026: FFBL merged into FFC December 2024.
Sulphuric-acid.com, Pakistan fertiliser industry history; National Fertilizer Corporation: Lyallpur Chemicals and Fertilizers (Jaranwala) and Hazara Phosphate Fertilizers as SSP producers with sulphur-burning acid plants; Double A Fertilizer, SSP and sulphuric acid.
Fauji Akbar Portia Marine Terminals, fapterminals.com, and The Express Tribune, 'FAP Terminal comes in handy': dedicated grain and fertiliser berth at Port Qasim, 14.5 m depth, two unloaders of 1,600 t/h, over 4 million t/yr.
Argus, Duqm sulphur (via desk ledger, 27 Sep 2026): 30,000 t granular sulphur Duqm to Dar es Salaam discharged 31 Mar 2026; Red Sea ports now central to Middle East sulphur supply. Yasref (Yanbu) sulphur about 1,200 t/day (Oil & Gas Journal, via desk ledger).
IMSBC Code: sulphur (formed, solid) UN 1350, class 4.1, Group B; wash-down and moisture precautions for grab discharge.
Kpler, 17 Sep 2026: no crude loaded at Yanbu since 11 Sep 2026 after the East-West pipeline strike; Red Sea sulphur liftings should be confirmed with the terminal at the time of fixing.