China is a core import market in global sulphur trade. As the world's largest sulphur consumer and importer, China imported approximately 9.61 million mt of sulphur in 2025, with an import dependence of nearly 60%, occupying a substantial position in the global sulphur market.
To more accurately reflect China's spot sulphur CFR market and help make global sulphur trade pricing more transparent and granular, SMM plans to add a new price point for SMM CFR China Sulfur from Friday, September 25, 2026, following extensive market research and data accumulation.
The definitions of the relevant price point are as follows:
SMM CFR China Sulfur
- Quality Standards: Sulfur Content ≥ 99.5% (on a dry basis); Ash Content ≤ 0.05% ; Moisture Content ≤ 2.0%; Lumps or Granules
- Definition: Sulphur CFR, seller bears freight to the named destination port, risk transfers when goods pass the ship's rail at the port of Sulphuric acid CFR, seller bears freight to the named destination port, risk transfers when goods pass the ship's rail at the port of shipment, main ports of China
- Unit: USD/mt
- Minimum Transaction Volume: Minimum 8,000 mt
- Delivery Period: Within 60 days
- Publication Time: Every Friday working day, 12:00 noon Beijing Time
- Payment Terms: L/C/TT at sight in USD, or Other Payments Normalized
- SMM Price Methodology General Principles
Shanghai Metals Market (hereinafter referred to as "SMM") is a completely independent third-party service provider that does not participate in any substantive transactions. Instead, it maintains close communication with buyers and sellers in the market as a market observer or organizer and provides relevant services to the market. Through communication with industry participants, SMM continuously formulates, reviews and revises its methodologies, adopts the most common product specifications, trade terms and trade conditions in the industry, and places equal emphasis on normal transactions that meet the specification standards. SMM reserves the right to exclude any price information deemed unreliable or unrepresentative from its price assessment.
SMM publishes daily spot metal prices (or indices, including for the Chinese market, markets outside China, and the global market), commonly referred to as SMM prices. SMM has formulated corresponding methodologies for all SMM prices published (all of which will be published on SMM's official website at https://www.metal.com/ for inquiry). The methodologies stipulate the methods and procedures for the generation and publication of SMM prices, and SMM prices are generated and published strictly in accordance with the methodologies. In order to align with the actual conditions of the spot market, SMM will make necessary revisions to the SMM price methodologies and will announce such revisions on SMM's official website prior to formal implementation. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding SMM prices and their methodologies, please contact SMM customer service (please refer to the contact information on SMM's official website at https://www.metal.com/).
September 17, 2026
SMM Industry Research Team