Ammonium Sulfate Weekly Market Report — Week Ending 17 September 2026

Update — 18 September 2026: For the latest assessment, see our ammonium sulfate price update (18 September 2026), where China standard caprolactam-grade fob is assessed at $200-205/t. This weekly report covers the week ending 17 September.

Chinese standard ammonium sulfate firmed this week, breaking a run of flat assessments, with standard caprolactam-grade assessed at $195-205/t fob, up from $195-200/t, and compacted rising to $210-225/t fob. Prices moved because supply failed to meet demand, not because demand strengthened. Traders call the move small in absolute terms but telling about the state of the offer stack.

Price assessments

The upward move was attributed to limited cargo availability and rising international urea prices, which behave differently over time. Urea strength lifts the whole nitrogen complex and can reverse with the urea market. Limited availability is structural on the ammonium sulfate side and clears only when new export allocations arrive.

Southern producers

Southern Chinese producers have largely exhausted their allocated export volumes for the current round. Northern producers still hold some cargoes at around $200/t fob in limited volumes, and export offers remain scarce. Traders describe availability, rather than price, as the binding constraint this week.

A competitive price that cannot be allocated is worth less than a higher price that ships on time. Buyers are being told to confirm tonnage is available for their loading window before comparing quotations. Sellers with approved tonnage are holding stock back until the allocation picture clears.

The 15 September rule

The 15 September shipment deadline has passed, but non-self-regulated enterprises that had already received CIQ approvals are still able to load and export. Most of those enterprises have already sold the bulk of their volumes. Existing approvals remain valid within their validity window, so exports did not stop.

The second round of export allocations is still unconfirmed, with participants expecting an announcement by the end of September and nothing official surfaced. That expectation is the largest variable in the market, since it decides whether supply loosens or stays tight into the fourth quarter. A narrower question is whether steel-grade ammonium sulfate producers will be eligible to export once the second round is released; that has not been settled.

Reported trades

Reported transactions this week give a clearer read than the assessment ranges alone, with the standard parcel into Brazil the clearest indication of where that grade clears. Enquiries have outnumbered concluded business across most grades, traders say. Most parcels were tied to October and November shipment windows.

• 5,000t standard amsul at around $195/t fob for October shipment to Brazil — the clearest read on where standard material clears for the Brazilian market.
• 6,000t MMA-grade at $160/t fob for November shipment to southeast Asia.
• 8,000t LFP-grade at $180/t fob for October shipment to southeast Asia.
• 5,000-10,000t compacted at $220-225/t fob for October shipment to Brazil, with a southern supplier separately selling at $210/t fob.

MMA-grade at $160/t and standard caprolactam-grade at $195-205/t are not competing for the same buyer, since specification and production source decide which price applies. Treating ammonium sulfate as a single commodity with one price is the most common error in this market, traders say. Buyers are advised to name the grade and destination before asking for a level.

Domestic reference

Domestic values firmed on export demand, giving a read on the level under export pricing. The Shandong caprolactam-grade figure is the reference for standard export pricing, since its fob equivalent sits level with the export assessment. Compactors were actively buying steel-grade material for compaction on strong Brazilian demand.

• Shandong caprolactam-grade: ¥1,220/t ex-works, equivalent to roughly $198/t fob — up from ¥1,210/t.
• Shanxi steel-grade: ¥920/t ex-works, equivalent to about $188/t fob for compacted material.
• Inner Mongolia / Ningxia steel-grade: ¥790/t ex-works, about $169/t fob for compacted.
• Shandong MMA-grade: ¥965/t ex-works, about $160/t fob.
• Caprolactam operating rates around 69%.

Domestic ex-works equivalent at roughly $198/t fob sits essentially level with the export assessment of $195-205/t, leaving very little allocation premium in the ammonium sulfate export price. Traders say that is why ammonium sulfate does not react to quota news the way urea does. Steel-grade material has been repricing faster than caprolactam-grade in Shanxi and the northwest.

Caprolactam operating rates around 69% have kept by-product supply from expanding fast enough to relieve pressure on prompt bulk material. Auction bidding in Shanxi and the northwest has stayed competitive as a result. Buyers there are largely executing existing contracts rather than booking fresh volume.

Destination markets

Brazil: compacted assessed at $250-260/t cfr, with material mostly trading at $250-255/t cfr across ports and offers at $260/t cfr finding no takers. Tight availability and the unresolved China export outlook are the support. Business concluded was lower than the previous week.

Southeast Asia: standard indicated at $225-235/t cfr, with demand muted as the nitrogen application season nears its end and rising freight costs deterring fresh purchases. Freight from China was indicated at low-mid $40s/t for a 6,000-8,000t vessel and $37/t for 10,000t. Parcel size moves the freight number materially.

Importer Fact’s 28 August tender for up to 600,000t of caprolactam-grade ammonium sulfate under a two-year supply arrangement has four valid offers remaining from an original eight, with four rejected. Bids are structured as a variable discount or premium against the average of the previous four weeks’ published standard caprolactam-grade fob China assessments, and offer validity was extended to 19 September, but awards have not yet emerged. The tender is large enough to absorb significant volume.

Europe: standard assessed at €270-275/t fob northwest Europe and granular at €330-350/t fob northwest Europe, with standard firming on concluded UK sales at €275/t fob and small truckloads at €285/t fca. A producer sold 3,000t to Germany and 4,000t to the UK, likely October shipment, and Chinese compacted was on offer at €350-360/t fca northwest European ports inclusive of duties, with at least three trading firms each set to bring a panamax cargo in coming months — around 200,000t total. Even producers expect a tight fourth-quarter balance with Domo out of the market.

A Malaysian importer received an offer of 10,000-12,000t of standard caprolactam-grade at around $240/t cfr Klang for October loading. Turkey: demand picking up, with standard offered at $260/t cfr and compacted spanning $270-290/t cfr; East Africa: Chinese standard indicated around $240-250/t cfr but no buying interest; South Africa: stable at $255-270/t cfr. Tight availability and Chinese export restrictions have limited activity, with no fresh offers reported out of South Africa.

Mexico: an importer is in the market for around 30,000t of standard and compacted material for east coast delivery; although urea is a cheaper nitrogen source, some cash crops require ammonium sulfate specifically for its sulphur content. US: a burst of buying lifted Nola barge prices from $320-340/st fob early in the week to $350-375/st fob for Q3/Q4 loading, with reduced import volumes and Advansix’s withdrawn offers tightening availability. Front-month corn futures reached $5.36/bushel, the highest since July 2023.

Buyer guidance

In a supply-constrained market, the binding constraint is tonnage availability for the loading window, so buyers are advised to settle that before working the commercial terms. The end-September allocation announcement is the pivot for fourth-quarter supply: volume and steel-grade eligibility would ease the current tightness, while a delayed or restricted round would leave it in place. Traders say the timing of that decision has been setting offer behaviour this week.

The $160/t to $225/t spread across this week’s reported business reflects genuinely different products serving different end uses, so buyers are matching specification and production source to their process needs and verifying the lot COA against it. Our production source guide sets out how the routes differ. Crystalline material for blending and compacted granules for direct application are rarely interchangeable in the same enquiry.

Freight this week ranged from $37/t to the mid-$40s/t depending on parcel size alone, so any cfr figure is only meaningful against a specific parcel and routing. With the allocation round unresolved, loading schedules remain subject to allocation availability, and buyers are advised to build that into downstream commitments. Sellers holding approved tonnage are quoting with validity windows that track the allocation calendar.

On pricing in this article. The figures above are indicative market assessment levels for the grades 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.