July 29 International Fertilizer and Agriculture News

Argentine Soybean Exports Expected to Increase

As domestic soybean market supply is ample and prices strengthen, Argentine soybean crushers may increase soybean meal exports in the coming months.

Crushers increased their reliance on imported soybeans in June to maintain high crushing output, with imports rising 41% year on year to 895,000 tonnes. Farmers’ reluctance to sell this year’s crop may have supported imports, while domestic producer deliveries fell 3.1% year on year to 3.32 million tonnes in June.

But because farmer sales slowed, an estimated 29.2 million tonnes of the current soybean crop remained unsold at the start of July, up 21% from last year. Even with increased soybean crushing in June, the combination of imports and domestic deliveries was still enough to lift soybean inventories held by crushers by 17% year on year to 4.11 million tonnes, the largest volume ever held by crushers.

Combining the crop still unsold by farmers and supplies held by crushers, Argentina’s soybean crushing sector had access to 33.3 million tonnes of soybeans at the beginning of July, up 21%, or 5.68 million tonnes, from early July last year.

Crushers may be increasing soybean meal production this month. Farmers sold 1.27 million tonnes of this year’s harvest to domestic users in the first two weeks of July, up 20% from the same period last year. Export registrations also increased, with 3.53 million tonnes booked for the coming months since the start of July, compared with 727,000 tonnes during the same period last year.

To meet these obligations, crushers need to expand beyond the 764,000 tonnes of soybean meal stored at the beginning of July, which was down 15% from July 1 last year. Rising prices should incentivize crushers to increase activity. Since the start of July, the benchmark for September-loaded upstream FOB soybean meal has risen by $3.50/short ton. Meanwhile, the CBOT September futures contract rose by $15/short ton, with Argus assessing the value at $322/short ton on July 27.

All signals suggest that Argentine oilseed processors increased crushing this month and may become even more active in August, a period when crushing usually slows, as prices become more supportive. The Argentine market should be well supplied to meet growing crushing demand.

For details, please refer to the supply and use data for Argentine soybean products.

Tupras Awards August Domestic Sulfur Tender

Turkish refiner Tupras has fully awarded its nationwide sulfur e-tender for August, with prices at $849-912/tonne for different batch sizes. Compared with the previous tender on June 23-24 at $650-804/tonne, prices rose by an average of $153.50/tonne.

Lots from Izmir, ranging from 100-700 tonnes and totaling 3,850 tonnes, started with a floor price of $675/tonne and were awarded at $909-912/tonne.

Lots from Izmit, ranging from 100-2,500 tonnes and totaling 16,000 tonnes, were awarded at $849-852/tonne.

Lots from Kirikkale, ranging from 100-750 tonnes and totaling 2,600 tonnes, were awarded at $876-882/tonne.

India Halts Sulfur Exports, Reducing Supply

India’s suspension of sulfur exports will further reduce supply in the seaborne sulfur market, although the impact may be limited because export activity has already slowed since April.

India has not issued official documentation on sulfur export restrictions, but market participants broadly understand that Indian refineries will be unable to export sulfur until further notice. Discussions about a potential export suspension first appeared in April, when the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) convened major industry participants after calling on the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers to impose a ban of at least six months on exports of elemental sulfur.

GCCI cited the risks of tight supply, rising prices, and disruption to fertilizer production. The export suspension is expected to mainly affect India’s leading sulfur exporter Reliance Industries (RIL), whose cargoes are usually loaded from Bedi port on the country’s west coast.

According to Global Trade Tracker (GTT) data, India exported 356,900 tonnes of sulfur from January to April. No cargoes were shipped in May, as refineries had begun prioritizing supply to domestic contract customers. Exports were mainly destined for China and Brazil, which received 142,900 tonnes and 110,000 tonnes respectively, with the remainder shipped to Indonesia.

The loss of Indian exports comes at a time when the global sulfur market is already severely constrained, after the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed. India relies heavily on imported sulfur for fertilizer production. In 2025, the country imported 2.25 million tonnes of sulfur, around 84% of which came from the Middle East. Due to the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war, imports fell 26% year on year to 698,200 tonnes from January to May.

Sulfuric acid exporters are also increasingly concerned that the government may expand export restrictions to sulfuric acid, but no official notice or proposal has been reported.