Financial Times warns sulphur shortage poses risks to fertiliser supply

A shortage of industrial sulphur is intensifying competition between fertiliser makers and mining companies, the Financial Times reported on October 13. It warned that reduced fertiliser output could add pressure to global food prices.

Sulphur is recovered as a byproduct of the oil and gas industry and converted into sulphuric acid for phosphate fertilisers and metal processing. According to the newspaper's account, around half of international sulphur flows passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the escalation involving Iran.

The Financial Times reported that prices previously around $100–$200 a tonne had risen to nearly $1,000 this year. That is the newspaper's comparison of price levels, rather than a single current quotation covering every market.

Argus specialist Raghav Jain told the newspaper that mining companies benefiting from higher metal revenues could outbid fertiliser producers. Mosaic chief economist Andy Jung said farmers' limited ability to absorb higher costs was forcing producers to cut output.

The report describes a risk moving through the sulphur and fertiliser supply chain. It does not establish how much, or when, that risk would change retail food prices.