Ammonium Sulfate Market Report — Week 39, 2026

This is our market report for the week of 21-25 September 2026 — a week in which the domestic Chinese market did the moving and the export market waited for an allocation decision.

The short version: domestic caprolactam-grade climbed to ¥1,230-1,270/t ex-works in Shandong, export fob held near $205-215/t, Brazil stayed firm, and everyone is now watching the end-September allocation round.

The week in numbers

Domestic reference points moved through the week:

• 20 Sep: Cangzhou Xuyang lifted its caprolactam-grade offer ¥50 to ¥1,270/t bulk, with normal offtake
• 23 Sep: Shandong caprolactam-grade assessed at ¥1,230-1,270/t, coking-grade at ¥981-1,175/t — with further upside expected as auctions stayed competitive
• 24 Sep: Hualu Hengsheng raised caprolactam-grade bulk ¥20 to ¥1,320/t and power-plant grade ¥80 to ¥1,175/t

For context, the previous week (14-18 September) closed with the domestic spot benchmark around ¥1,230/t, up 3.07% on the week and nearly 30% year-on-year. This week extended that trend rather than reversing it.

What drove the week

Domestic auctions led, export followed. The strongest signals came from coking-grade and steel-grade auctions, where bidding stayed aggressive. The reason underneath is compaction demand: Chinese compactors are buying raw material to serve Brazilian granular programmes while delivered Brazilian values remain workable. That demand chain — Brazilian buying → granulation margin → compactor restocking → auction prices — is still intact, exactly as it was last week.

Power-plant and lower grades repriced fastest. The ¥80 jump in power-plant grade at Hualu Hengsheng is a wider move than the headline caprolactam figure, and it repeats the pattern we flagged last week: when availability tightens, the bottom of the grade ladder reprices first.

Export levels held rather than jumped. Standard caprolactam-grade sat near $205/t fob and compacted granules near $215/t fob on the latest assessments. With domestic ex-works values around ¥1,230-1,270/t, the fob equivalent of domestic material is close to parity with export assessments — the same structure we described in our 23 September note. At parity, sellers have little reason to discount, and tonnage moves on allocation rather than price.

Policy: the transition is over, the allocation question is not

The 15 September end of the export inspection transition period has settled into a workable routine: enterprises holding valid CIQ approvals continue to load and ship, and approved cargoes are clearing normally. What the transition end did not do is expand the pool of exportable tonnage — volumes remain tied to approved quantities.

That puts the second allocation round, expected by the end of September, at the centre of the fourth-quarter outlook:

• If it arrives with volume and extends eligibility (steel-grade in particular), Q4 supply loosens and the current premium structure eases.
• If it is delayed or restricted, tightness persists into October-November and offers will keep clustering around whoever still holds approved tonnage.

Until that lands, the market’s information advantage sits with sellers who know their allocation status — not with buyers watching assessment ranges.

Demand: Brazil carries on, Southeast Asia rests

Brazil remains the engine. The October-November planting window keeps compacted and granular demand firm at around $250-255/t cfr main ports, and recent weeks have seen ammonium sulfate gain roughly $40/t internationally alongside rising urea. With urea fob China in the high-$300s and Middle East supply constrained, the cost-per-nitrogen comparison still favours ammonium sulfate for sulfur-hungry soybean ground.

Southeast Asia is quiet, as it was last week. The July-September application season has closed, buyers are executing existing contracts, and crystalline material for compound fertilizer blending is seeing thin new enquiry. Regional caprolactam-grade assessments sit near $230/t cfr.

Secondary markets showed selective life:

• Turkey — demand recovering; standard offered around $260/t cfr, granular $270-290/t cfr
• Mexico — an importer seeking around 30,000t of standard and granular material for east coast delivery
• East Africa — Chinese standard offers at $240-250/t cfr finding no buyers at that level, a reminder that not every region has accepted the higher price structure

Costs: the floor is rising

Sulphur has stayed firm on the Tampa and North Africa benchmarks. Sulphur sets the production-cost floor for synthetic-route material — ammonia plus sulphuric acid — which is what fills the bottom of the offer stack when by-product grades are tight. With the by-product side already allocation-constrained, a rising synthetic floor removes the usual safety valve that caps rallies. Our production source guide explains why the routes do not substitute for one another.

What buyers should do now

Get allocation clarity before negotiating price. Ask a supplier whether they hold approved tonnage for your loading window. A firm answer is worth more than a $5/t discount from someone who cannot ship.

Keep grade and destination matched. Brazil wants compacted or granular; Southeast Asia and ANZ blending programmes want crystalline. The grades price on different bases and do not substitute.

Plan around the allocation announcement. If your programme stretches into Q4, model both outcomes: allocation arrives with volume (prices ease, wait if you can) or it does not (lock tonnage now). Do not run a single scenario.

Verify specification against the lot COA. Mixed-source compacted material carries different guaranteed figures than single-route crystalline. Confirm nitrogen assay, free acid and moisture against your application before comparing prices across grades.

Treat every cfr number as parcel-specific. Freight remains the most volume-sensitive component of delivered pricing; a Brazil cfr for one parcel size does not transfer to another.

Next week’s watch list

The base case into next week: domestic firm, export fob steady-to-firm, and the allocation round deciding everything downstream of it.

Sourcing ammonium sulfate from China

We supply standard, granular (compacted) and crystalline ammonium sulfate from China to agricultural, compound-fertilizer and industrial buyers, loading at Qingdao or Tianjin with full export documentation.

• 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

Send your destination port, the grade you need, your volume and your required loading window, and we will confirm availability and quote on that basis.

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 and published industry data. 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.