4.5.3.1Availability and Consumption

The sulfur supply of China is 8.6393 million tons of sulfur. China itself can produce 17.2672 million tons pyrite standard ore (sulfur-containing concentrates), 230,200 tons of powdered sulfur, 4.287 million tons of smelter acid and 234,000 tons acid from gypsum; they combine to amount to 7.8561 million tons of sulfur equivalent or 90.93% of the total supply.

The net imports of powdered sulfur and sulfuric acid are 739,900 tons and 123,600 tons respectively, amounting to 783,200 tons of sulfur equivalent or 9.07% of the total supply.Sulfur produced by China itself is mainly used to meet the domestic demand and the short part of the supply relies on imports. The imports and exports of sulfur commodities in 1997 are presented in Table 4.5.5. Imports are mainly from Japan, Canada, France and Taiwan, and exports are mainly to Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

Table 4.5.5 China's imports and exports of sulfur commodities in 1997

The total volume of imports and exports of sulfur commodities of China in 1997 was US $ 48.49 million, lower than that (US $ 61.748 million) in the previous year, of which the export volume was US $ 2.075 million (it was US $ 2.79 million in the previous year) and the import volume was US $ 46.415 million (it was US $ 58.958 million). In 1999 China still imported appreciable amounts of powered sulfur, sulfuric acid and fuming sulfuric acid.

The great majority of China's sulfur-bearing ore production goes for the manufacture of sulfuric acid. Among other things, 14.239 million tons of pyrite ore (standard ore) is used in sulfuric acid production, accounting for 82.46% of the country's total pyrite production. In 1997 China's consumption of sulfuric acid was 19.91 million tons. Its consumption pattern is: chemical fertilizers, 72.62%; chemicals, 14.49%; other industries, 12.81% (Table 4.5.6). The percentages of sulfuric acid used in the manufacture of various kinds of chemical fertilizer in the total consumption are given in Table 4.5.7.

According to relevant data of the Ministry of Land and Resources(Annual Report of Mineral Resources of China,1997), in 1997 China's sulfur-bearing standard ore and powdered sulfur in stock were about 1.97 million tons and 22,000 tons respectively. The detailed tonnage of sulfuric acid in stock is unclear.

To sum up, it is estimated that China's apparent consumption of sulfur (sulfuric acid included), comprising all items of uses of sulfuric and sulfuric acid and the amounts of exports and stocks, is about 21 to 22 million tons of sulfur standard ore, or about 7.3 to 7.7 million tons of sulfur equivalent.

Table 4.5.6 Consumption pattern of sulfuric acid in China

Table 4.5.7Percentages of sulfuric acid used in the manufacture of various kinds of chemical fertilizer in the total consumption

4.5.3.2 Trends

Sulfur is mainly consumed in the manufacture of sulfuric acid, and the latter is mainly used in the manufacture of fertilizers, especially phosphate fertilizer. Now phosphate fertilizer produced by China itself cannot meet the agricultural demand and it is necessary to import more than 4 million tons every year to meet fertilizer demand. As we depend on exports to make up for the phosphate fertilizer shortage every year, the demand on sulfuric acid for phosphate fertilizer production is diminished accordingly. Now sulfur produced by China itself can essentially meet the domestic  demands for fertilizer production and various industrial uses; so it is not advisable to import large amounts of sulfur and its products.

In accordance with the State's grand programme that grains and chemical fertilizers will reach three plateaus by the end of this century, by 2000 China's production of chemical fertilizers will be 31 million tons, of which phosphate fertilizer will be 6.89 million tons (high-concentration phosphate fertilizer is required to take up 40% of the total amount of the phosphate fertilizer), and in addition other industrial sectors also use acid (excluding smelter acid), the demand for pyrite will be 19 million tons (standard ore; the same hereinafter).

According to the existing production capacity plus the potential production capacity of plants under construction of the chemical industrial sector, the annual production capacity is expected to reach 8 million tons and the annual production 5.5 million tons by the end of the ninth Five-Year Plan period; for the nonferrous metals metallurgical sector the production capacity will reach 6 million tons with an annual production of 5.5 million tons by the end of the period; for the coal sector the production of sulfur concentrates will be 1.2 million tons by the end of this period. If 7 million tons (7.38 million tons in 1996) produced by other sectors and local village- and township-owned small mines are added to the above figures, it is probable that by 2000 China's pyrite production will reach 19 million tons.

In 1997, the production of sulfuric acid produced from smelter fumes surpassed 4 million tons, an increase of 29.85% over 1996, which can directly increase the availability of sulfur without doubt.

Sulfur mining causes great harms to the environment and the health of men and livestock. We must take effective measures to strengthen the environmental control and protection, maintain the ecological balance and mitigate any harm to the people so as to achieve sustainable development of sulfur mining.