Commodity Watch: Sulphur Steps into the Spotlight

29 June 2026

Ahmad Al-Sati

<div class="grid grid--33-66-col"><div class="col"><img loading="lazy" src="/getContentAsset/061c994a-a452-418f-bfa0-f2cf3cf5c577/cb87803a-320c-480f-ab75-7b9029eaaf79/Ahmad-Al-Sati-new.png?language=en" alt="Ahmad Al Sati - insights" title="Ahmad Al Sati - insights" style="width: 180px" class="fr-fic fr-dii"></div><div class="col">AHMAD AL-SATI PRESIDENT OF GEMCORP CAPITAL ADVISORS LLC, PORTFOLIO MANAGER Ahmad Al-Sati is Portfolio Manager of the Gemcorp Commodities Alternative Products strategy (GCAP) and President of Gemcorp Capital Advisors LLC, based in New York. He is responsible for leading Gemcorp’s commodities-focused investment strategy and overseeing the firm’s US advisory platform.</div></div><hr>The scent hits you as soon as you reach the ocean. A sea breeze that is the product of bacteria and algae breaking down sulphur to produce dimethyl sulphide (DMS)- the gas producing the distinctive smell (hopefully I didn’t ruin the beach for anyone). DMS then rises into the atmosphere to seed clouds and produce rain, helping grow crops. On land, sulphur by-products are not broken down in the same way, but they have been critical for thousands of years to improve crop yields and fight pests. One of the oldest Latin texts by Cato the Elder describes using sulphur to fight pests.   Today, sulphur is more than an agricultural input (it is key for fertilisers and necessary for global food production). Elemental sulphur is a precursor of sulphuric acid (85% of sulphur is processed into sulphuric acid), which is an integral input for a variety of human activities including mining and industrial output. Sulphuric acid (the king of chemicals) hardens rubber; it is a key ingredient in water treatment plants; it is essential for extracting copper and nickel; and it is used to produce paper, textiles and fire retardants.   Yet, sulphur has seldom taken the marquee spot. Oil, copper and, more recently, critical minerals have received the attention. But without sulphur our economies will be worse off: more inefficient and more expensive.Batteries are illustrative. Increasingly, batteries are used in electrifying the economy: in EVs, as backup power for renewables and data centres and across a wide range of industrial output such as heavy machinery, robotics and aerospace. Copper, nickel and lithium have thus come to the fore as key ingredients for batteries. Yet, sulphuric acid is essential for leaching these metals. And if it becomes more expensive or scarce, battery metals may see upward price pressure. In 2025, sulphuric acid was up 166% (up an additional 70% since the Middle East conflict). Thus, sulphuric acid now represents 11% of lithium production costs (up from 3%) and 42% of nickel production costs (up from 26%)1.   The closure of the Strait of Hormuz revealed the fragility of the supply chain (as it did for many products), added to scarcity and increased prices, especially as China, Turkey and Russia restricted its exports. This war was not the catalyst for turning sulphuric acid from a niche commodity to a globally strategic component. New technologies, weak supply chains, increased demand and underinvestment all contributed. Now, studies project sulphuric acid shortages by 2035 and an increase in price volatility of ~70%2. How will that affect food prices and global electrification efforts? How will it impact the largest companies by market capitalisation increasingly exposed to physical supply chains for their energy needs? We shall see.   Ultimately, the size of the sulphuric acid market (US$14 billion) is small. Yet, it is one more example of a physical commodity that can have major effects on the world economy (and on portfolios) by adding to volatility, inflation and an ever-increasing uncertainty. Sources: 1 Jamasmie, C. (2026). CHARTS: How the sulphuric acid crunch is driving up critical minerals costs.2 Beroe. (2026). The Looming Sulfur Shortage and Global Supply Risks. Important InformationThis content has been prepared solely for informational purposes by Gemcorp (as defined below), is confidential and may not be reproduced.This content does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an offer with respect to the purchase or sale of any security and should not be relied upon when evaluating the merits of investing in any securities or form the basis of an investment decision. The information in this content has been obtained from various third-party sources, some of them forward-looking statements and/or projections. 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