Corrects volume in paragraph 5 to 106,000t from 160,000t
Sulphuric acid demand from Indonesian battery metals producer PT QMB New Energy Materials (QMB) slowed in March and into April, with the firm carrying out plant maintenance following a landslide.
Morowali Industrial Park in central Sulawesi was hit by a landslide after heavy rain on 22 March, resulting in three fatalities.
QMB's high-pressure acid leaching plants are likely to be off line for a minimum of three weeks. The company was approached for comment.
A large vessel line-up at Bahodopi has also curbed demand from one of Indonesia's largest acid importers.
There are currently six vessels waiting to discharge at Bahodopi, carrying a combined 106,000t of acid. Some have been waiting since early March.
It is unclear when the congestion will ease, given the QMB outage.
Some traders are looking at diverting cargoes to destinations including India's east coast or Chile.
QMB's Bahodopi sulphuric acid receipts were disrupted earlier this year after the company exhausted its import quota — this was only renewed in mid-February, for up to 600,000 t/yr.
Indonesian sulphuric acid imports totalled 1.08mn t in 2024, slightly down from 2023's record 1.09mn t, with QMB receiving much of this.
