Sulfur: World Production In All Forms, By Country And Source

This table presents comprehensive data on global sulfur production, detailing quantities by country and source over a five-year period from 2019 to 2023. It encompasses all forms of sulfur, including byproduct recovery from metallurgical processes, natural gas, petroleum, native sulfur mining, pyrites, and Frasch recovery. This information is crucial for understanding the supply dynamics of sulfur, a key industrial mineral used extensively in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, fertilizers, chemicals, and petroleum refining. Tracking production trends by country and source helps stakeholders assess market availability, identify leading producers, and anticipate shifts in global supply chains that can impact prices and industrial activity worldwide.

Analysis of the data reveals that global sulfur production has steadily increased from 83.5 million metric tons in 2019 to 85.8 million metric tons in 2023. China remains the dominant producer, maintaining a consistent output around 19.4 million metric tons in 2023, with substantial contributions from byproduct sources such as natural gas and petroleum (8.5 million tons) and pyrites (5.2 million tons). The United States also shows significant production, rising slightly to 8.65 million tons in 2023, driven primarily by petroleum byproduct sulfur (7.6 million tons). Notable growth is observed in Kazakhstan, where total sulfur production increased from 4.3 million tons in 2022 to 5.1 million tons in 2023, largely due to a surge in natural gas and petroleum byproduct sulfur. Kuwait’s production nearly doubled from 623 thousand tons in 2019 to 1.3 million tons in 2023, indicating expanding petroleum-related recovery. Conversely, some countries like Finland and Germany experienced gradual declines or fluctuations in total output. Overall, byproduct sulfur from natural gas and petroleum remains the largest source globally, underscoring the close link between sulfur production and the energy sector.

TABLE 11
SULFUR: WORLD PRODUCTION IN ALL FORMS, BY COUNTRY AND SOURCE1, 2

(Thousand metric tons, sulfur content)

Country or locality	2019		2020		2021		2022		2023
Australia, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	810		810		810		810		810
Petroleum	90		90		90		90		90
Total	900		900		900		900		900
Belgium, all forms and sourcese	400		400		400		400		400
Brazil, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	260		260		260		260		260
Petroleum	240		240		240		240		240
Total	500		500		500		500		500
Canada, byproduct:
Metallurgy	520		555		550	e	550	e	550	e
Natural gas and petroleum	4413		4519		4329		4349		4431
Total	4933		5074		4879		4899		4981
Chile, byproduct, metallurgye	1300		1500		1400		1300	r	1300
China:
Byproduct:
Metallurgye	5700		5700		5700		5700		5700
Natural gas and petroleum	7660		7910		8490	r	8500	r, e	8500	e
Pyrites	5700		5240		5200	e	5200	e	5200	e
Total	19060		18850		19390	r	19400	r	19400
Finland:
Byproduct:
Metallurgy	340	e	359		338		341	r	340	e
Petroleume	130		120		120		120		120
Pyrites	296		247		232		182		180	e
Total	766		726		690		643	r	640
France, byproduct, natural gas and petroleume	400		400		400		400		400
Germany, byproduct:
Metallurgy	281		213		236		227	r	230	e
Natural gas and petroleum	460		353		382		371		370	e
Total	741		566		618		598	r	600
India, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	1200		1200		1200		1200		1200
Petroleum	2376		2262		2341		2426	r	2481
Total	3576		3462		3541		3626	r	3681
Iran, byproduct, natural gas and petroleume	1540		1400		1640		2000	r	2000
Italy, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	40		40		40		40		40
Petroleum	510		510		510		510		510
Total	550		550		550		550		550
Japan, byproduct:
Metallurgy	1630		1729		1575		1656	r	1700	e
Petroleum	1629		1412		1420		1542		1367
Total	3259		3141		2995		3198	r	3067
Kazakhstan, byproduct:
Metallurgye	600		600		610		610		610
Natural gas and petroleum	4036		3876		3993		3688		4481
Total	4636		4476		4603		4298		5091
Korea, Republic of, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	1080		1080		1080		1080		1080
Natural gas and petroleum	2000		2000		2000		2000		2000
Total	3080		3080		3080		3080		3080
Kuwait, byproduct, petroleum	623		620	r	959	r	1268	r	1300	e
Mexico, byproduct, natural gas and petroleum	365		264		176		289		221
Netherlands, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	100		100		100		100		100
Petroleum	410		380		390		400		430
Total	510		480		490		500		530
Poland:
Byproduct:3
Metallurgye	280		280		280		280		280
Natural gas	25		25		24		23		23	e
Petroleume	269		269		269		269		269
Other, unspecifiede	1		1		1		1		1
Frasch³	555		417		444		476		471
Total	1130		992		1018		1049		1044
Qatar, byproduct, natural gas	2050		1650	e	2100		3150	r	3100	e
Russia:
Byproduct:e
Metallurgy	200		200		200		200		200
Natural gas	6600		6600		6600		6600		6600
Petroleum	500		500		500		500		500
Native	58		46		50	e	50	e	50	e
Pyritese	180		180		180		180		180
Total	7538		7526		7530		7530		7530
Saudi Arabia, all forms and sources, unspecifiede	6500		6500		7000		7500		7500
Turkmenistan	660	e	700	e	700	e	862		870	e
Ukraine, native	120	e	NA		NA		NA		NA
United Arab Emirates, byproduct, natural gas and petroleum	6000		5500	r	5950	r	6105	r	6000	e
United States, byproduct:
Metallurgy	596		579	r	600		636		640
Natural gas	322		276		549	r	516	r	417
Petroleum	7790		7030		6920	r	7490	r	7600
Total	8710		7880	r	8070	r	8640		8650
Uzbekistan, byproduct:e
Metallurgy	130		150		150		160	r	160
Natural gas and petroleum	330		320		320		320		320
Total	460		470		470		480	r	480
Venezuela, byproduct, natural gas and petroleume	320		320		320		320		320
Other (total):4
Byproduct:
Metallurgy	1299		1106		677	r	530	r	534
Natural gas and petroleum	443		386		399		393		382
Petroleum	593		541		382		377		375
All forms and souces, unspecified	255		227		257		241	r	202
Frasch, native	58		60		91		89		86
Pyrites	200		55		47		49		47
Total	2848		2375		1853	r	1679	r	1626
Grand total	83500		80300	r	82200	r	85200	r	85800
Of which:
Byproduct:
Metallurgy	16400		16500		15800	r	15700	r	15700
Natural gas	9000		8550		9270		10300	r	10100
Natural gas and petroleum	28000		27200	r	28400	r	28700	r	29400
Petroleum	15200		14000		14100	r	15200	r	15300
All forms and souces, unspecified	7820		7830		8360		9000	r	8970
Frasch, native	791		523		585		615		607
Pyrites	6380		5720		5660		5610		5610

^eEstimated. ^rRevised. NA Not available.

¹Table includes data available through October 24, 2024. All data are reported unless otherwise noted; totals may include estimated data. Grand totals, U.S. data, and estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.

²The term “source” reflects the means of collecting sulfur and the type of raw material. Sources listed include the following: Frasch recovery; native, comprising all production of elemental sulfur by traditional mining methods (thereby excluding Frasch); pyrites (whether or not the sulfur is recovered in the elemental form or as acid); byproduct recovery, either as elemental sulfur or as sulfur compounds from coal gasification, metallurgical operations including associated coal processing, crude oil and natural gas extraction, petroleum refining, oil sand cleaning, and processing of spent oxide from stack-gas scrubbers; and recovery from processing mined gypsum. Recovery of sulfur in the form of sulfuric acid from synthetic gypsum produced as a byproduct of phosphatic fertilizer production is excluded, because to include it would result in double counting. Production of Frasch sulfur, other native sulfur, pyrites-derived sulfur, mined gypsum-derived sulfur, byproduct sulfur from extraction of crude oil and natural gas, and recovery from oil sands are all credited to the country of origin of the extracted raw materials. In contrast, byproduct recovery from metallurgical operations, petroleum refineries, and spent oxides are credited to the nation where the recovery takes place, which is not the original source of the crude product from which the sulfur is extracted.

³Government of Poland sources report total Frasch and native mined elemental sulfur output annually, undifferentiated; this figure has been divided between Frasch and other native sulfur on the basis of information obtained from supplementary sources.

⁴Includes, Algeria, Austria, Bahrain, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Lithuania, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, South Africa, Syria, Taiwan, and Turkey.