China paid more for far less sulphur in August, reports the South China Morning Post. This comes as Middle East supply disruptions pushed the element’s average import price nearly 3.5 times higher than a year earlier, putting pressure on the country’s planting season next year.
August imports fell nearly 30% from July and 65% from a year earlier to around 277,300 tonnes, according to the latest Chinese customs data. But the value of those shipments rose by more than a fifth year on year.
The divergence sent the average import price soaring by nearly 246% from a year earlier–meaning China paid almost 3.5 times as much for each tonne. Across the first eight months of the year, the average price was 168% higher than in the same period of 2025.