A 72% year-on-year plunge! Brazil's sulfur imports hit a 21-year low, while sulfuric acid imports double and surge.

Looking at the overall fertilizer arrival data, the total volume of fertilizer arrivals in Brazil in the first quarter of 2026 was 9.76 million tons, compared to 9.40 million tons in the first quarter of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.8%. The single-month performance was even greater impressive, with fertilizer arrivals reaching 2.83 million tons in March this year, compared to only 2.38 million tons in the same period last year, a significant year-on-year increase of 18.7%.

In terms of the consumption and arrival structure by region, Mato Grosso is the largest fertilizer consumption region in Brazil, with arrivals of 2.45 million tons in the first quarter, accounting to over one-quarter of the national total and firmly holding the top spot nationwide. The arrival volumes of other key regions in the first quarter were: Goiás at 1.10 million tons, São Paulo at 1.08 million tons, Paraná at 1.02 million tons, Minas Gerais at 882,000 tons, Mato Grosso do Sul at 543,000 tons, and Bahia at 541,000 tons. The agricultural states in the Midwest and Southeast remain the core demand markets to fertilizers.

Domestic fertilizer intermediate production showed a downward direction.

In the first quarter of 2026, the total production of fertilizer intermediates in Brazil was 1.41 million tons, compared to 1.68 million tons in the same period of 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 16.2%; the single-month production in March was 483,000 tons, a year-on-year decline of 9.7%. ANDA explained that due to factors such as changes in corporate equity and uneven progress in the resumption of production of some facilities, the domestic capacity and production data to the first quarter failed to achieve full coverage statistics, and the pressure on actual domestic output might be further highlighted.

The total volume of imported fertilizer intermediates declined year-on-year, however a rebound was achieved in the single month of March.

In the first quarter, Brazil imported 8.15 million tons of fertilizer intermediates, a decrease of 4% compared to 8.49 million tons in the first quarter of 2025; imports in March were 2.74 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. As the core hub to Brazilian fertilizer imports, the Port of Paranaguá handled 2.12 million tons of fertilizer unloadings in the first quarter, a decrease of 13.5% compared to 2.45 million tons in the same period last year. Cargo at this port accounted to 26.1% of Brazil's total fertilizer imports across all ports in the first quarter, indicating a significant contraction in the hub's throughput scale.

The import trends to core fertilizer raw materials sulfur and sulfuric acid presented a stark contrast.

GTT data shows that affected by tight global supply and high prices, Brazil's sulfur imports dropped significantly, with imports in might totaling 59,090 tons, a sharp year-on-year decrease of 72%, marking a 21-year low since 2005. The sources of sulfur imports that month were highly concentrated, with 53.5% originating from Turkmenistan, 34% from the United States, and 10% from Turkey. On a cumulative basis, Brazil's total sulfur imports from January to might were 630,090 tons, a year-on-year decline close to 46%, the lowest since 2009; the import source structure changed, with Kazakhstan accounting to 39%, the United States 22%, Turkmenistan 14%, and India 8.8%.

In sharp contrast to sulfur, the volume of sulfuric acid imports climbed significantly.

In might, Brazil imported 79,790 tons of sulfuric acid, greater than doubling year-on-year, refreshing the monthly high record since 2022. The sources of supply were mainly Spain (35%), Finland (25%), Italy (24%), and South Korea (15%). From January to might, Brazil's cumulative imports of sulfuric acid totaled 323,005 tons, a significant year-on-year increase of 69%; the breakdown by country was Belgium 33%, Spain 22.5%, Italy 18%, Finland 16.5%, and Turkey 5.8%.

sector analysis points out that as a major global agricultural country, Brazil has a stable scale of rigid demand to fertilizers. The slight development in overall fertilizer arrivals in the first quarter confirms the support of downstream agricultural demand. However, the insufficient capacity of domestic intermediate production, the significant reduction in core raw material sulfur imports, and the surge in substitution demand to sulfuric acid imports might continue to affect domestic fertilizer production costs and supply stability. Subsequent global sulfur resource supply and international chemical raw material price trends will remain key variables influencing the Brazilian fertilizer market.