yes, sulphur is what makes sour crude sour. sulphur is stripped off the hydrocarbons during processing. sulphuric acid is a common ingredient in all kinds of chemical processing, including copper. the consumption of sulphuric acid to copper is about 2-4:1 by mass and sulphuric acid is about 50-100x less expensive than copper by mass ($12000/t for copper, about $200/t for acid). Cobalt is worth about 5x more than copper and its production consumes a similar amount of sulphuric acid. acid is important in metal production but it is a smaller fraction of the cost of the commodity than acid is in fertilizer. metals get used in higher value add products also, so price sensitivity is lower than food commodities. the impact of a sulphur shortage on the metal markets will be to generally increase prices, but I believe the real pinch will be on food products.

[–] sodium_nitride@hexbear.net 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Sulfuric acid is fairly easy to make so it is not such a huge problem.

https://www.mapsofworld.com/amp/minerals/world-sulphur-producers.html

Assuming this map is correct, sulphur is diversified (except obviously China is in the lead)