China shipped 2.85 million tonnes of ammonium sulfate in September 2026. The volume is the story

China exported 2.85 million tonnes of ammonium sulfate in September 2026, worth $547 million. Both figures are records for the year so far, and both are well ahead of September 2025, which came in at 2.25 million tonnes and $379 million.

Headline growth was 26.4% on volume and 44.2% on value.

That is the news. What follows is the part that matters more: the nine-month total grew 6.9%, which means almost every additional tonne China shipped this year was shipped in September.

The numbers

Source: China customs export statistics for ammonium sulfate, as reported by ChemNet on 23 October 2026. Prior-year figures and per-tonne values are derived arithmetically from the published growth rates; they are not separately published numbers.

2.85 million tonnes is not a normal month

The monthly average across January to September was 1.80 million tonnes. September ran at 1.58 times that, and accounted for 17.6% of the entire nine-month volume on its own.

Now do the same subtraction on the year. January to August 2026 came to 13.34 million tonnes against 12.89 million tonnes in the same months of 2025. That is growth of 3.5%, in a year when Chinese ammonium sulfate has been widely described as tight and sold out.

So the tightness and the flat volume are both real, and they were happening at the same time. For eight months the market cleared roughly what it cleared the year before. Then September added 600,000 tonnes year on year in a single month.

There are two readings, and the data does not choose between them.

The first is that overseas demand arrived late and hard. Brazilian buyers typically build position ahead of the second-crop application window, and this year they came in September rather than over the summer. Indian tenders landed in the same window.

The second is shipment timing. Cargoes booked in July and August but rolled for space, documentation or allocation all count in the month they clear customs, not the month they were sold. A single strong month following eight flat ones is the classic footprint of that.

For a buyer the practical difference matters. If demand pulled the tonnage forward, Q4 has less left to ship. If timing pushed it back, Q4 has more. Neither is visible in the annual figure, and anyone telling you which one it was with confidence is guessing.

The price says something different from the headline

Value rose 44.2% against volume growth of 26.4%. That gap is the price effect, and it is genuine: per tonne, September 2026 was worth about $192 against about $168 a year earlier, up 14%.

But look at the nine-month line. Value per tonne went from about $154 to about $201, up 31%. September’s 14% is less than half the year’s pace.

And September was below the year to date, not above it. Running the same subtraction on January to August gives 13.34 million tonnes for $2.705 billion, or about $203 per tonne. September at $192 was roughly 7% softer than the eight months that preceded it.

That is not a contradiction. It is a sequence. Through September the Chinese domestic benchmark was in a six-week slide, and the export price was drifting down with it. The exporter’s margin was the thing holding fob up, not demand. September’s average sits at the bottom of that slide.

Since then the direction has changed. Standard caprolactam-grade was assessed at $215-220/t fob China on 21 October, up $5 at the low end week on week, with the domestic ex-works price finally flat rather than falling. That move is covered in our 23 October market report.

The point for anyone reading the customs release as a price signal: it is a rear-view mirror with a one-month lag, and it lags in the middle of a turn.

Value per tonne is not a price

Worth stating plainly, because it gets misused in enquiries. A customs unit value is total declared value divided by total declared weight. It blends:

• every grade, from standard caprolactam by-product to compacted granular and off-spec MMA material
• every form, crystalline and granular, which carry a $5-10/t spread fob China
• every delivery term, FOB and CFR and CIF, so ocean freight on some cargoes is inside the number and on others it is not
• every destination, from a Brazilian main port to a landlocked delivery

The result is a smooth, low, slow-moving number that describes the trade as a whole. It is a good way to read a trend and a bad way to price a parcel. If you need a number for your own cargo, get an offer against your destination port, grade and volume.

Where the tonnage went

Brazil remains the largest single destination for Chinese ammonium sulfate, and it has been for years. The Brazilian programme is mostly compacted granular for direct application and bulk blending, which is why the compacted premium over crystalline survives in that market even when the Chinese offer book is thin.

India led Asia in September at 286,700 tonnes. Lithuania led Europe at 64,000 tonnes, New Zealand led Oceania at 49,710 tonnes and Egypt led Africa at 43,000 tonnes.

One caution on the country detail. The figure most widely repeated for Brazil in September secondary reporting is 1.32 million tonnes. That would be 46% of the month’s entire national exports, and it does not reconcile with a 2.85 million tonne month or with any recent quarterly pattern. It is almost certainly a cumulative January to September number that has been presented as a monthly one. We have not used it here, and we would not put it in front of a customer.

The ranking is reliable. The individual country figures are worth checking against the customs database before you rely on them.

What this means if you are buying in Q4

Three things, none of them dramatic.

Ask about allocation, not about price first. September’s volume tells you the tonnage exists and moved. It does not tell you any is available for your window. In a market where producers report being sold out forward, the supplier who can confirm a loading date is worth more than the one quoting $5 under the market with nothing behind the number.

Expect the Q4 comparison to look weak. September 2025 was itself a strong month, and Q4 2026 volumes depend on allocation release and on whether the October price recovery holds. A softer Q4 headline would tell you the September surge was timing, not a new level of demand.

Match the form to the market you are selling into. Brazil takes compacted. Southeast Asia and Australasia take crystalline for blending. Europe is short of standard specifically, not of ammonium sulfate generally. If you are buying crystalline at a discount to compacted for a market that needs granules, the saving is illusory once you account for your own handling.

What we will be watching

The base case is straightforward. Chinese ammonium sulfate supply is not short of capacity, it is short of approved tonnage at any given moment, and September showed how fast that tonnage can move when it is released. Price in the risk of timing, not the risk of scarcity.

Sourcing ammonium sulfate from China

We supply standard, granular (compacted) and crystalline ammonium sulfate, 21-0-0-24S, loading at Qingdao and Tianjin with full export documentation, inspection support and bagging to your specification.

• Ammonium Sulfate — grade range and typical specifications
• Granular Ammonium Sulfate — direct application and bulk blending
• Crystalline Ammonium Sulfate — compound fertilizer and industrial use
• Importing ammonium sulfate from China — documents, inspection and shipping

Send your destination port, the grade and form, your volume and your loading window, and we will confirm availability against that.

On the figures in this article. Export volumes and values are China customs statistics as reported by ChemNet on 23 October 2026, covering September 2026 and January to September 2026. Prior-year comparisons and per-tonne values are arithmetic derivations from the published growth rates, not separately published data. The $215-220/t fob reference for 21 October 2026 is an indicative market assessment, not an offer. This article was published on 26 October 2026 and describes the market as at that date; ammonium sulfate prices move with grade, production source, packaging, parcel size, destination and freight, and are confirmed per enquiry and in the sales contract.