By late April 2026, granular sulfur prices at Zhanjiang Port hit 6,700 yuan per ton, up 8% month-on-month and over 80% year-to-date. This sulfur price spike directly impacts phosphorus chemical producers' margins, but more importantly for the textile and chemical fiber chain—sulfur is a key input for sulfuric acid, which in turn is critical for producing polyester and viscose intermediates. Cost pressure is quietly transmitting along the chemical chain.
Cost Transmission: The Hidden Link from Phosphorus Chemicals to Chemical Fiber
The current cost pressure on the phosphorus chemical industry is structural. China's sulfur import dependence has long exceeded 40%, with geopolitical tensions disrupting Middle Eastern supply and the new energy sector's surging demand for sulfuric acid tightening supply. Sulfuric acid price increases directly affect the factory costs of phosphorus-based products like phosphoric acid and monoammonium phosphate.
For the textile and chemical fiber industry, phosphorus chemical intermediates are essential auxiliaries in polyester and viscose production. Phosphoric acid is used in polyester catalyst preparation, and phosphates in viscose coagulation bath regulation. Although this cost transmission chain—sulfur-sulfuric acid-phosphorus chemicals-chemical fiber—is indirect, chemical fiber companies should watch for marginal cost increases in the second half of 2026.
Industry Leaders' Response: Self-Sufficiency and Product Mix as Key Differentiators
Facing raw material surges, leading companies are demonstrating structural resilience that offers lessons for textile and chemical fiber firms.
- Xinyangfeng employs a dual-track supply of pyrite-based and sulfur-based acid production. Its 1 million-ton pyrite acid capacity fully avoids sulfur price volatility, while its fertilizer supply qualification secures low-cost sulfur quotas. Its new-type fertilizer share is rising, with lower sensitivity to raw material costs and promising margin recovery.
- Yuntianhua leverages ample strategic sulfur inventory for a clear cost advantage over market purchases. It also optimizes international procurement and increases local smelter acid purchases to diversify supply.
- Xingfa Group uses its full industrial chain synergy to pass cost increases through to downstream products like glyphosate and organosilicon. Its phosphogypsum calcination project for sulfuric acid and cement, expected to start in 2027, will produce 800,000 tons of sulfuric acid annually, directly offsetting sulfur price shocks.
Technology Breakthrough: Phosphogypsum-to-Acid Opens Commercial Window
High sulfur prices are accelerating technology iteration. At the 2026 first-half sulfur industry chain conference, the China Phosphate and Compound Fertilizer Industry Association set a target to reduce sulfur import dependence to below 30%. Phosphogypsum-to-acid technology is a key breakthrough now entering commercial acceleration.
Guizhou Phosphate Group's world-largest phosphogypsum decomposition project for acid and cement is running stably, consuming 1.4 million tons of phosphogypsum and producing 600,000 tons of sulfuric acid annually. Chuanheng Phosphate has postponed a 400,000-ton sulfur-based acid project to evaluate phosphogypsum technology, while building new pyrite-based acid capacity in Guizhou and Guangxi, targeting 900,000 tons/year by mid-2027 with cost savings of 500 yuan per ton.
In the medium to long term, sulfur prices are likely to remain high, but as diversified acid production scales up, the phosphorus chemical chain's dependence on imported sulfur will decrease significantly. This means the sulfur-driven volatility in chemical fiber raw material costs may gradually ease.