Application of calcium-containing solutions, like calcium chloride, to fruits and vegetables is known to extend shelf-life of horticultural products, as well as improve their quality and prevent rotting effects. Since horticultural products are indispensable sources of minerals and vitamins, the role of calcium chloride as an agricultural nutrient is essential. Other applications of calcium chloride, including dust control, anti-icing, metallurgy, tire industry, to name only a few, make it truly versatile specialty salt with unique features.
Wide functionality of calcium chloride is linked to seasonality in its consumption. This is directly linked to seasonality of nutrient introduction for agricultural purposes. Likewise in de-icing applications, the imminent arrival of cold weather drives the need to restock calcium chloride. This is especially true for the coldest states of the USA (e.g., Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Montana, and Wyoming), which will soon experience the spells of cold weather. The USA still remain a leading manufacturer of calcium chloride on the global arena with a total capacity of around 2 mln tonnes.
Calcium chloride: structure of the global production capacity by country
The USA also hosts major vertically integrated calcium chloride manufacturers like Tetra Technologies and OxyChem. These companies are responsible for the manufacture of a range of innovative calcium chloride products. For instance, OxyChem’s DOWFLAKE™ Xtra, used as dust control substance, ice melter and concrete additive, is a purified inorganic salt produced by removing water from a naturally occurring brine solution without involving reactions with chemicals such as hydrochloric acid or ammonia. That is why its production process is termed as “non-synthetic” by the US National Organic Standards Board, which is a highly acclaimed Federal Advisory Board made up of dedicated public volunteers, representing key organic community stakeholder groups.
The above fragmented outlines of the calcium chloride market highlight the main indicators which can monitor successful operation on this market. Calcium chloride manufacturers should develop novel products, thus adaptively catering for versatile applications. These products should really be innovative, while their ecological friendliness remains their indispensable competitive advantage. The vertical integration of production facilities may pave a strategy to keep the trio of these indicators within the cost-effective range.
More information on the global calcium chloride market can be found in the in-demand research report “Calcium Chloride (CaCl2): 2019 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2028”.