Ammonium Sulfate Market Report — Week 38, 2026

This is our full market report for the week of 14-18 September 2026, the week China’s ammonium sulfate export transition period ended. Standard material firmed to $195-205/t fob and compacted reached $210-225/t fob, with the move driven as much by the absence of a hard stop on shipments as by fresh buying. Traders describe a sentiment correction on top of an already tight supply position.

Weekly numbers

Domestic Chinese values moved more sharply than the export assessment over the same sessions, which sellers say points to where the pressure came from. Shandong caprolactam-grade ex-works rose from ¥1,210/t to ¥1,220/t, a ¥10 gain equivalent to roughly ≈$198/t fob, while the export assessment moved from $195-200/t to $195-205/t. Compacted cfr Brazil opened at $246-255/t and closed at $250-260/t, with the traded level at $250-255/t.

The 15 September rule

Going into Monday the market was cautious, with buyers and traders uncertain what would happen when China’s ammonium sulfate export inspection transition period ended on 15 September. The widespread fear was a hard stop on shipments, speculative purchasing pulled back, and coke-grade cargoes came under pressure. Sellers say that caution had thinned enquiry flow in the days before the deadline.

Non-self-regulated enterprises that had already received CIQ approvals remained able to load and export, with existing approvals valid within their validity window. Once it was clear that existing order documentation could still clear customs, sellers moved from caution to holding back stock and firming offers. Coke-grade auction prices rose sharply across multiple regions and caprolactam-grade followed, traders report.

The sharpest moves in this market have been coming from policy clarification rather than from demand shifts, according to traders following the Chinese export desk. The price change this week was a sentiment correction as much as a physical one. Buyers who had waited for the rule to settle re-entered enquiries within days.

Supply constraint

Even before the rule change clarified, availability was tight, and it has stayed tight since. Southern Chinese producers have largely exhausted their allocated export volumes for this round, while northern producers hold some cargoes at levels clustering around $200/t fob. Offers from the north are limited in volume, sellers say.

A competitive quotation that cannot be allocated for a loading window is worth less than a higher quotation that loads on time. The 15 September deadline has passed, but enterprises holding prior CIQ approvals can still export, and most of them have already sold the bulk of their volumes. The channel exists, traders say, but the tonnage through it is limited.

Brazilian demand

Brazil is the destination doing the work this week, for seasonal and structural reasons at once. September marks the start of soybean planting preparation, and August through December is the traditional peak window for granular ammonium sulfate into Brazil. Buyers there accelerated order-taking once the export-rule picture cleared.

Brazilian soils are notably sulfur-deficient, and with urea priced at elevated levels growers increasingly favour ammonium sulfate as a cost-effective combined sulfur-nitrogen source. Fertilisers compete on cost per unit of nutrient, and on that comparison ammonium sulfate looks attractive against high-priced urea. Domestic granulation economics improved markedly as the spread between Chinese granulation cost and delivered Brazilian value widened.

That widening stimulated raw-material purchasing by Chinese compactors, which pushed the coke-grade and steel-grade auction prices higher. The chain from Brazilian demand through granulation margin and compacting demand into domestic raw material prices and export offers moves faster than the published export assessment, traders say. Domestic auction results have been firming before the fob number in recent weeks.

Southeast Asia is in a seasonal lull by contrast, with the July-September application season closing, buyers largely executing existing contracts, and new enquiries scarce. Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam take mostly crystalline material for compound fertilizer production, and large-scale restocking interest is weak. Rising freight costs have added to the reluctance, traders say.

Reported trades

Reported business gives a truer read than assessment ranges alone, and the parcels this week spread across MMA-grade, LFP-grade, standard caprolactam-grade and compacted material for Brazil, southeast Asia, Malaysia and Europe. Enquiries have been running ahead of concluded business in most of those grades. Most parcels were quoted for October and November shipment.

• 5,000t standard at around $195/t fob, October shipment to Brazil — the clearest read on clearing level for standard material into Brazil
• 6,000t MMA-grade at $160/t fob, November shipment to Southeast Asia
• 8,000t LFP-grade at $180/t fob, October shipment to Southeast Asia
• 5,000-10,000t compacted at $220-225/t fob, October shipment to Brazil; a southern supplier separately sold at $210/t fob
• 10,000-12,000t standard caprolactam-grade offered at around $240/t cfr Klang, Malaysia, October loading
• 3,000t to Germany and 4,000t to the UK by a European producer, likely October shipment
• Chinese compacted offered at €350-360/t fca northwest European ports, duties included

The $160/t to $225/t range covers material all called ammonium sulfate, but MMA-grade, LFP-grade, standard caprolactam-grade and compacted are different products from different production routes serving different end uses. They do not substitute for one another, and treating ammonium sulfate as a single commodity with one price is the most consequential mistake a buyer can make here, traders say. Our production source guide sets out how the routes differ.

India tender

Importer Fact’s 28 August tender — up to 600,000t of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulfate under a two-year supply arrangement — has narrowed from eight offers to four valid ones, with four rejected. Offer validity was extended to 19 September and awards have not yet emerged. Bids are structured as a variable discount or premium against the average of the previous four weeks’ published standard caprolactam-grade fob China assessments.

600,000t over two years is large enough to absorb meaningful supply and to influence the shape of the export market, traders say. Its outcome will be a signal on where large-scale buyers believe the market is heading. Importers in India and southeast Asia have been watching the award as a reference for fourth-quarter coverage.

European supply

Europe deserves separate attention because the supply picture there is tightening for reasons independent of China’s policy. Standard caprolactam-grade was assessed at €270-275/t fob northwest Europe, with concluded UK sales at €275/t fob and small truckloads at €285/t fca, and granular held at €330-350/t fob with demand picking up at the lower end. Producers describe the fourth-quarter balance as tight with Domo out of the market.

At least three trading firms are each set to bring a panamax-sized cargo of Chinese compacted ammonium sulfate into northwest Europe in coming months, totalling around 200,000t and offered at €350-360/t fca with duties included. Even so, European producers expect the fourth-quarter supply balance to stay tight. Buyers are being advised to plan fourth-quarter requirements earlier rather than later.

Smaller markets showed a similar tone: Turkey demand is picking up, with standard offered at $260/t cfr and compacted spanning $270-290/t cfr, and Mexico has an importer in the market for around 30,000t of standard and compacted material for east coast delivery. Some cash crops require ammonium sulfate specifically for its sulfur content regardless of price. Sellers report thin fresh enquiry outside those two markets.

Buyer guidance

The binding constraint this month is availability, so buyers are being advised to establish that tonnage exists for the loading window before working the commercial terms. Brazilian programmes want compacted or granular, while Southeast Asian and ANZ programmes generally want crystalline, and buying the wrong grade to chase a lower number costs more in rework than it saves. Grade and destination should be settled before any level is discussed, traders say.

The second allocation round is expected by the end of September, and if it arrives with volume and includes steel-grade eligibility, current tightness eases; if it is delayed or restricted, supply stays thin into the fourth quarter. Either way it is the largest single variable for Q4 planning. Buyers are being told to model both outcomes rather than a single scenario.

Nitrogen assay varies with production route, and granular compacted from mixed by-product sources carries a different guaranteed figure than crystalline from a single high-assay route, so buyers are verifying lot documentation before comparing prices across grades. Freight is the most volume-sensitive component of any delivered price, and a rate quoted for one parcel size does not transfer to another. With the allocation round unresolved, loading windows remain subject to allocation availability.

Watch list

Absent a change in the allocation position, the current supply structure does not obviously support a short-term price correction. Buyers with fixed programmes are better served by securing availability than by waiting, traders say. Sellers name the second allocation round and steel-grade eligibility as the variables most likely to move fourth-quarter levels.

Sourcing ammonium sulfate from China

The grades discussed here — standard, compacted granular and crystalline — cover the main forms in which ammonium sulfate leaves China, with Qingdao and Tianjin the usual loading ports. Inspection and documentation requirements have changed more than once this year, so buyers planning a shipment window should confirm which grades and documents currently apply before fixing a load plan.

• Ammonium Sulfate — the full grade range and typical specifications
• Granular Ammonium Sulfate — for direct soil application; the grade Brazilian programmes specify
• Crystalline Ammonium Sulfate — for compound fertilizer blending and industrial use
• How to import ammonium sulfate from China — documentation, inspection and shipping, step by step

Tell us the grade and destination you are working with and we will share the specification and documentation details relevant to that route.

On pricing in this article. The figures above are indicative market assessment levels for the grades and bases referenced, drawn from our own market monitoring. They are not offers and do not represent a quotation for any specific parcel, origin or shipment window. Ammonium sulfate prices vary with grade, production source, packaging, parcel size, destination and freight, and are quoted per inquiry and confirmed in the sales contract.