What the sulfuric acid supply crunch means for Critical Minerals
Benchmark Minerals Intelligence
Conflict in the Middle East and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz have led to sulfuric acid prices skyrocketing. Benchmark’s analysis shows that for some minerals, sulfuric acid is no longer a background reagent, but a primary cost driver. For nickel (produced via HPAL) and purified phosphoric acid (PPA), sulfur and sulfuric acid were already major contributors to costs. At these elevated prices, sulfur now represents 42% of HPAL nickel costs and sulfuric acid 59% of PPA production. A lack of physical sulfur availability has already led some of these metal and chemical refiners to cut production. Renewed interest in recycling of sulfuric acid have led major critical minerals producers to Travertine’s modular electrochemical platform for sulfuric acid production.
