Industry / Business
Sulfur is tight despite excess production Reasons for shortage are transportation problems confronting Canadian producers, hampering shipments to world markets Last year sulfur producers throughout the world cranked out 2.7 million long tons more sulfur than consumers used. It was the eighth consecutive year in which production exceeded demand. Yet, any purchasing agent will tell you that sulfur is hard to come by. This is one of the anomalies in the supply/demand relationship of key chemical raw materials that was spotlighted at the 20th annual workshop of the Chemical Industry Association in Tamiment, Pa. Despite last year's worldwide economic slump, sulfur was tight indeed. It probably will remain tight this year and could remain that way for at least a few more years. As a result, prices have soared. In the U.S., they vary a few dollars one way or the other from $65 per long ton. Export prices are higher. Frasch sulfur producers are working to reopen old mines or to bring new ones on stream. The situation is a repeat of the one that existed in the mid-1960's, when sulfur also was tight. Frasch producers rushed to reactivate old mines, only to close them down again when the supply/demand situation reversed itself. This time, however, the reasons are different. In the 1960's, sulfur was tight because production couldn't keep up with demand. Now, sulfur is short, even though production is outpacing consumption. In explaining this anomaly, James A. Orser, assistant marketing research manager for Texasgulf Inc., points to western Canada. There, recovered sulfur producers are piling up inventory on the ground because they can't overcome the transportation problems that prevent them from moving their sulfur to world markets. As a result, worldwide sulfur production hit 49.5 million long tons last year. Consumption lagged at 46.8 million long tons. And still the product was in tight supply. Sulfur periodically goes through cycles of oversupply and shortage. Inevitably, the explanation lies on the supply side of the equation. Worldwide sulfur demand, says Orser, has grown steadily at about 5.6% per year since
1960. Because demand is large and sulfur's outlets are diverse, the market for sulfur is a stable one. In the U.S., for instance, sulfur consumption traditionally has correlated closely with the Federal Reserve Board's index of industrial production. Although this correlation has held up well for more than 50 years, it may not do so in the future, says Orser. Phosphoric acid and other phosphatic fertilizers are taking an ever larger share of the sulfur market. In the future, changes in fertilizer demand may outweigh industrial production levels. Phosphate fertilizers accounted for almost half of total sulfur consumption last year, compared to about 25% in 1950. With world population forecast to double between the end of the past decade and the year 2000, and with food supplies as short as they already are, Orser sees no way for phosphates demand to go but up. This, of course, will be reflected in sulfur demand. The other half of the sulfur market lies in a wide variety of industrial applications—rubber, pesticides, sulfite paper, textiles, pigments, steel, oil refining, and a host of others. Over the years, sulfur has lost some markets as processes changed, but new applications always have cropped up to keep world consumption trending steadily upward. A few years ago, for instance, steel pickling was almost exclusively the do-
Recovered sulfur has become big factor Millions of long tons
1974 production
ELEMENTAL SULFUR Frasch U.S. Poland Mexico Iraq U.S.S.R. Recovered Canada U.S. Western Europe Other Other
14.22 7.90 3.15 2.22 0.68 0.27 15.33 6.80 2.63 2.60 3.30 2.70
NONELEMENTAL SULFUR Pyrites Other TOTAL
10.30 7.00 49.55
Source: Texasgulf
main of sulfuric acid. Now hydrochloric acid is replacing it because it does the job better, faster, and without the pollution problems. Chlorine has ended sulfuric acid's predominance in titanium dioxide. In the pulp and paper industry, producers are lowering their sulfur requirements by switching from the sulfite process to the sulfate process. But new uses are being developed, says Orser, that will more than offset these market losses. One new use in the U.S. that is receiving a lot of attention is copper leaching with sulfuric acid. Although this process is used overseas, it only now is coming into the U.S. One major operation that will use sulfuric acid leaching is the Anaconda-AMAX project, which is being built at Twin Butte, Ariz. Depending upon its capacity (estimates range from 10,000 to 30,000 tons of cement copper per year), the project will require from 4000 to 10,000 long tons of sulfur annually. Road construction may become another large, new market for sulfur if research and development programs now under way prove out. Tests have shown that 30 to 50% of the asphalt used in making asphalt concrete may be replaced with sulfur. This can be done, says Orser, using simple mixing equipment to form a sulfur-asphalt emulsion. Impregnating concrete with molten sulfur is another potentially large sulfur use. Sulfur impregnation increases concrete's compressive and tensile strength and triples its corrosion resistance. Sewer pipes and bridge decks are potential applications. With new uses constantly cropping up to keep consumption on a steadily rising growth curve, Orser looks to the supply side of the equation to explain the cyclical imbalances that occur between sulfur supply and demand. In particular, he blames recovered sulfur, which he describes as "involuntary" sulfur. Recovered sulfur—from oil and natural gas—has seized the dominant role in the elemental supply picture. It accounts for more than half of the world's elemental sulfur supply and 31% of total world supply. In the U.S., sulfur recovered from oil and natural gas accounts for 22% of total production. Last year 1.3 million long tons were recovered from oil; another 1.3 million tons came from natural gas. The famous Lacq natural gas fields in France started recovering sulfur in 1957. Four years later, Lacq production June 9, 1975 C&EN
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More libraries turn to computer systems 1975 may be the year when the use of that can be used for information recomputers to keep track of information trieval systems. catches on in U.S. libraries. ComputerThe buildup of a significant library ized systems that scan the current lit- of computer-readable information also erature and select papers dealing with was required before computer searches a particular topic are being added to could become widely useful. The hundreds of libraries this year. There amount of information accessible by are* probably 1500 to 2000 organizations computer is currently growing nearly that currently have some sort of com- as rapidly as the number of organizaputer access to information indexes, tions using the computer searching sysaccording to estimates by major mar- tems. There are now 40 to 50 data keters of these systems. Last year there bases available through commercial were less than half that number. computer services, Donati estimates, Although the growth in the use of an increase of about 50% from last computers to scan information is wide- year. And the number of individual spread, it is particularly evident in records included in these data bases areas such as scientific information has more than doubled in the past year and marketing data, where the volume to more than 15 million. In nearly every case, conversion of Lack of rail facilities to producing units of new information and the need to keep up to date are particularly acute. index information to computer-readais at root of sulfur short supply The current growth in these areas fol- ble form was undertaken to facilitate was more than 1 million long tons. lows a decade of demonstration sys- the publication of printed indexes, Today, it is about 1.8 million tons an- tems that showed the advantages of rather than to expand the potential computer systems and developmental uses of the data to computer search nually. Sulfur recovery began in western programs that established a large com- systems. Beginning in the late 1960's a Canada in 1951 when Shell Canada puter-accessible bank of scientific and number of federally sponsored programs, in particular those of the Nabegan operating a 15 ton-per-day plant marketing information. Computer searching of information is tional Science Foundation, have helped at Jumping Pound, Alta. Today, there are 42 plants in Alberta, one in British an adjunct rather than a replacement to fund the conversion of scientific more traditional information data bases to a computer-accessible Columbia, and another in Saskatche- for wan. All of them recover sulfur from searching techniques, libraries point form. Because of these conversion pronatural gas except one, which obtains out. For the information it covers, it is grams, the usefulness of computer infaster, more reliable, and costs about a formation systems is much greater in sulfur from Athabasca tar sands. Western Canada has become one of quarter as much as a manual search of the sciences today than in many other the major sources of sulfur for world the same indexes in published form. areas. Efficient and inexpensive telephone markets, accounting for 15% of sulfur And certain kinds of information are production in all forms. The tremen- practically impossible to find in a communication also has been vital to dous surge in recovered sulfur produc- manual search but can be located by developing computerized information tion in Canada and elsewhere explains computer methods. However, much retrieval systems. Because telephones why sulfur output has exceeded con- pertinent information is not accessible are almost universally available in the sumption for the past eight years. But to the current computer systems, and U.S., one large computer facility can only the situation unique to western certain kinds of searches are much be linked to thousands of individual Canada can explain why sulfur now is more effectively done by using printed users throughout the country. The lack tight despite this large output, says indexes. Consequently, many informa- of a similar communications system tion specialists believe a comprehen- has held back development of commerOrser. Western Canadian plants produced sive search requires both computer and cial computer information systems in Europe and Japan. 6.8 million long tons of sulfur in 1974. manual techniques. Finally, the development of commerOnly 4.9 million tons were shipped, The current growth of computer inhowever. This means that inventories formation retrieval is made possible by cial information retrieval services has grew by almost 2 million tons and now four developments, explains Robert pulled together a large enough body of have reached 13 million tons. The rea- Donati of Lockheed Information Sys- computer-accessible information at a son is the logistical problems plaguing tems, a major commercial supplier of reasonable price to the user to make western Canadian producers. these systems. The wide variety of rel- such a system possible. Generally, the Producing units are not concentrat- atively inexpensive computer terminals commercial system purchases or licened, but are spread over a wide area. that are available today makes access ses a number of data bases in different Half of these units have not been con- to computerized data possible with lit- fields from the organizations that denected to a rail line. Those that have tle capital investment. Frequently, or- velop them and offers them to users at must still ship their product as much ganizations already have terminals a cost based on the amount of time as 1000 miles by rail over the Rocky they have purchased for other purposes spent searching that particular data Mountains to Vancouver. Meanwhile, saves hours by using computer system Chemists' Club Library, New York City, handling facilities at Vancouver are inadequate. Orser believes that these logistical problems will be overcome in a few years or less. When they are, sulfur supply again will outdistance demand. In the meantime, Canadian sulfur will continue to pile up, even though production is being cut back. oo Unlike Frasch operators, recovered sul- .ca fur producers have to keep operating, Z whether they want to or not. Earl V. Anderson, C&EN New York LU
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C&EN June 9, 1975
