News and Articles

• Ammonium sulphate distributor average in the United States held near USD 675 per short ton in early May, with the upper end of the published range approaching USD 890 per short ton.
• First-quarter Tampa sulphur contract was projected to settle at USD 475 to USD 520 per long tonne delivered, lifting amsul cash costs by USD 40 to USD 50 per short ton.
• Ammonia values rose by about USD 90 per tonne year on year, while sulphur jumped close to USD 194 per long tonne, squeezing producer margins.
• European granular supply stayed tight despite the late-2025 US tariff exemption, limiting export arbitrage into the Atlantic basin.
• India continues to source the bulk of its ammonium sulphate imports from China, with South Korea and the Middle East making up the balance.

Ammonium sulphate markets are entering the middle of 2026 with prices anchored well above year-ago levels, as a sharp run-up in sulphur and ammonia feedstock costs continues to flow through producer offer sheets across North America, Europe and Asia. Distributor pricing tracked by the United States Department of Agriculture in its 1 May Farm Production Cost Report showed ammonium sulphate moving in a wide range of about USD 540 to USD 890 per short ton, with the published average sitting near USD 675 per short ton on a free-on-board basis.

That range reflects a market still digesting cost pass-throughs that began building in the fourth quarter of 2025 and accelerated through the first quarter, when the Tampa sulphur contract was expected by trade participants to settle as high as USD 475 to USD 520 per long tonne delivered, up from around USD 310 a year earlier. On a like-for-like basis, sulphur input costs have risen by close to USD 194 per long tonne, while ammonia values are running roughly USD 90 per tonne higher year on year, lifting cash production costs for amsul producers by an estimated USD 40 to USD 50 per short ton.

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Supply-side tightness is reinforcing the cost story. Granular volumes out of Europe have remained constrained because regional producers have struggled to ramp up output even after the United States moved to exempt ammonium sulphate from several fertilizer-related tariffs late last year. A major North American producer that had shut operations on weak margins restarted earlier in the cycle, but the broader caprolactam-linked supply network, which delivers the bulk of global amsul as a by-product of nylon-6 manufacturing, is operating with thinner buffers because sulphuric acid economics are weighing on caprolactam run rates. Coke-oven by-product output in China has held steady, but Chinese export pricing has not eased enough to pressure landed offers into Southeast Asia or South America.

Buying behaviour has shifted in response. North American growers, supported by a recent federal farm aid package and stronger projected corn acreage, accelerated forward purchases through the late winter to lock in coverage before further increases. In Asia, India remains a structural net importer of food and technical-grade material, with China supplying the overwhelming majority of imported volume and South Korea and the Middle East filling the remainder. Brazilian importers continue to face cost-plus-freight exposure from Asian origins, leaving landed values sticky despite softer ocean freight on some lanes. With caprolactam producer margins still narrow and sulphuric acid prices showing no clear retreat, procurement teams in fertilizer blending, specialty agriculture, water treatment and pharmaceutical purification are likely to face firm offer levels through the third quarter of 2026, with downside risk capped unless feedstock economics break sharply.