Brazil plays a very important and increasingly influential role in the global ammonium sulphate (AS) market, largely because of its massive agricultural sector and shifting fertilizer demand patterns. Recent market data shows this clearly.

🌾 1. Brazil’s role in the ammonium sulphate market

📈 A major and growing importer

• Over the last several years, Brazil’s demand for ammonium sulphate has risen sharply, driven by expanding crop acreage, sulphur-deficient soils, and substitution away from urea and other nitrogen sources. AS demand in Brazil rose from about 1.9 million t/year in 2017 to roughly 6.0 million t in 2024, with projections to nearly 10 million t by 2029.

• In the first eight months of 2025, Brazil’s ammonium sulphate imports reached record levels (around 3.8 million t), at one point surpassing urea import volumes for the same period.

• In nitrogen imports overall, AS has been gaining share: for example, AS represented 36 % of total nitrogen imported in a recent period vs ~21 % earlier, while urea’s share declined.

🇨🇳 China is Brazil’s dominant supplier

Brazil sources almost all of its AS imports from China — in some recent data nearly 99.9 % of AS delivered was China-origin.

📦 Extremely import-dependent

Brazil produces almost no ammonium sulphate domestically, meaning nearly 100 % of its AS supply is imported.

🌍 2. Brazil’s significance in the global ammonium sulphate market

🌐 One of the world’s largest importers

Brazil is now one of the single most important demand drivers globally:

• In 2025, Brazil accounted for more than one-third of all global ammonium sulphate imports.

• In global exports from China, Brazil was the largest destination, representing over 36 % of China’s exported AS volume in a recent period.

📊 Growing market share

Compared with global fertiliser trade, Brazil’s AS market is large:

• Brazil’s ammonium sulphate industry was valued at around USD 2.9 billion in 2023, expected to reach ~USD 3.7 billion by 2030.

• In terms of revenue, Brazil accounted for roughly 14.7 % of the global AS market in 2023.

This scale makes Brazil one of the most influential markets for producers and exporters — especially China, which adjusts production and export planning with Brazil’s demand patterns in mind.

📌 Why Brazil matters so much for ammonium sulphate

🚜 Agricultural demand

Brazil’s vast agribusiness — especially soybeans, corn, sugarcane, and pasture systems — now emphasizes sulphur alongside nitrogen. AS delivers both nutrients and has become a structural part of fertiliser programs.

💰 Price & substitution dynamics

Due to pricing and reliability compared with urea, many buyers in Brazil are substituting urea with AS when it becomes more cost-effective or when sulphur demand is present.

📈 Impact on global trade flows

Because Brazil imports such large volumes, shifts in its AS demand can influence global prices, export allocations, and trade flows, particularly for Chinese suppliers.

Summary

• Brazil is one of the largest and fastest-growing importers of ammonium sulphate worldwide, with demand increasing strongly in the past decade.

• The country’s agricultural structure and nutrient needs make AS especially important alongside or in place of conventional nitrogen fertilizers.

• Brazil’s import volumes influence global trade flows, pricing benchmarks, and strategies of major producers and exporters — especially China, which supplies most of Brazil’s AS.