Sulphuric acid tops $500 per tonne as Hormuz closure tightens phosphate fertilizer production inputs globally

Spot prices for sulphuric acid, the chemical input that phosphate fertilizer production depends on more than any other, have climbed past $500 per tonne in recent weeks, driven by the near-total disruption of Middle Eastern sulfur exports through the Strait of Hormuz and a parallel ban on Chinese sulphuric acid exports that took effect on May 1.

Phosphate fertilizer producers are the world’s largest consumers of sulphuric acid, accounting for 54% of global demand in 2024, according to Traubenbach Associates data. The Middle East supplies roughly half of global seaborne sulphur — the raw material from which sulphuric acid is made — and the Hormuz disruption has cut off that supply corridor for most of the world, with the exception of traders operating under Iran’s selective access regime.

The squeeze has direct consequences for phosphate producers globally. In Africa, copper oxide mining operations — which also depend on sulphuric acid to leach metal from ore — face potential shutdowns within weeks as local inventories run low, according to Robert Friedland, founder and co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, whose Kamoa-Kakula copper smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now generating sulphuric acid as a smelting by-product and selling it to neighbouring oxide copper operations. Kamoa-Kakula produced 117,871 tonnes of high-strength sulphuric acid in Q1 2026, placing the company in the unusual position of beneficiary amid an industry-wide input crisis.

For global DAP and MAP producers, the acid cost surge compounds existing pressure from high sulphur prices and disrupted ammonia supply. Mosaic, the largest U.S. phosphate producer, cited rising sulphur costs in its Q1 2026 results, reporting a net loss of $258 million and missing analyst earnings estimates as input cost headwinds offset stronger phosphate volumes.

The combination of acid scarcity, disrupted Hormuz shipments, and rising phosphate prices is accelerating interest in domestic phosphate capacity outside the Gulf — including projects in Morocco, Canada, and the U.S. — and may structurally shift phosphate trade flows away from Gulf-dependent supply chains for years after the conflict is resolved.

Source: Mining.com