Between 2004 and 2007, the world soda ash production witnessed stable growth, increasing by around 4% annually. Following a decline during the 2008-2009 recession, production volume estimates improved in 2010, increasing from 44.4 million tonnes in 2009 to 51.3 million tonnes in 2011. In 2012, the global soda ash supply grew by over 2 million tonnes and exceeded 53.6 million tonnes. In the same year, Asia-Pacific called for the dominant share of the world’s total soda ash production volume; the region’s supply was estimated at above 27.7 million tonnes. China, the US, Russia, India and Turkey were the top five countries by production; in 2012, their combined soda ash output stood at more than 42 million tonnes in volume.
Global soda ash production by country, 2012
Solvay, Tata Chemicals, FMC Wyoming Corp, Tangshan Sanyou Chemical Industries, Tangshan Sanyou Chemical Industries, Shandong Haihua Group, OCI Wyoming LP, Nirma, Ciech Chemical, Qinghai Alkali Industry, Soda JSC and Şişecam Chemicals Group are among the leading companies involved in the global soda ash industry.
As of 2012, the world annual production capacity of soda ash was estimated at more than 65.35 million tonnes. Asia-Pacific accounted for over half of the globe’s soda ash capacity, followed by Europe and North America.
Global soda ash capacity by region, 2012
Global soda ash consumption surpassed the 53.6 million tonnes mark in 2012. Asia-Pacific was the largest consumer of the product; in 2012, the region’s soda ash consumption was over 31.1 million tonnes in volume terms. The float glass, glass packaging and STTP, soap and detergent industries were the key soda ash end-user sectors; in 2012, around 65% of the annual supply volume was used in these applications.
In 2012, the global soda ash foreign trade exceeded USD 2.5 billion. North America ranked as the top soda ash exporter, whilst Asia-Pacific imported the largest volume of the product.
The world soda ash demand is poised to grow by 4.6% on average annually in the 4 next years. The highest growth is expected in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets. The global soda ash supply volume is forecast to reach 64.8 million tonnes in 2016.
More information on the soda ash market can be found in the study “Soda Ash: 2014 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2018”.