China’s sulphur imports dive 65% as prices surge 3.5 times amid Middle East disruption
Country pays more for less of the key fertiliser ingredient, potentially pressuring the spring planting season, analyst says
China paid more for far less sulphur in August, as Middle East supply disruptions pushed the element’s average import price nearly 3.5 times higher than a year earlier, putting pressure on the country’s planting season next year.
August imports fell nearly 30 per cent from July and 65 per cent from a year earlier to around 277,300 tonnes, according to the latest Chinese customs data. But the value of those shipments rose by more than a fifth year on year.
The divergence sent the average import price soaring by nearly 246 per cent from a year earlier – meaning China paid almost 3.5 times as much for each tonne. Across the first eight months of the year, the average price was 168 per cent higher than in the same period of 2025.
Largely recovered as a by-product of oil and natural-gas processing, sulphur is used to produce sulphuric acid and phosphate fertilisers, making it an important raw material for both agriculture and the chemical industry.