SALT

Salt remains the most cost-effective material on the market for maintaining full mobility on roads and highways and preventing accidents during the winter snow season. This mineral is also the most useful component in regenerating the ion exchange resins that are used for water conditioning, is critical in the production of animal feed products and is the most ubiquitous ingredient used in the food industry. The method used to obtain salt varies depending on the end benefit, with salt being derived from rock salt, salt in brine, vacuum pan salt and solar salt. For 2022, the total apparent U.S. salt consumption (that is, domestic sold or used minus exports plus imports) is an estimated 59 Mt. Compared to previous years, the estimated 2022 apparent consumption of salt is similar to 2021 (59 Mt), greater than 2020 (53 Mt) but less than 2018 and 2019, both of which had an apparent consumption greater than 61 Mt. The source of the consumed salt for 2022 was rock salt (43 percent), salt in brine (40 percent), vacuum pan salt (9 percent) and solar salt (8 percent). Domestic annual salt production in the United States differs from year to year and was approximately 42 Mt in 2022, which is similar to the 2021 domestic salt production (42 Mt) and is in line with the five-year and 10-year averages of approximately 42.7 Mt/a. At the beginning of 2022, 64 salt-producing plants existed in 16 states with approximately 94 percent of the total production coming from Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Most of the domestic production (98.3 percent) was consumed within the United States in 2022 with only a small amount (0.7 Mt) of the total domestic production being exported. The estimated 2022 exports are less than the five-year average for exports, which has been approximately 1 Mt/a. To meet the 2022 demand, the United States imported an estimated 18 Mt of salt (30.4 percent of total apparent consumption). Historically, these imports have originated from Chile (29 percent), Canada (28 percent), Mexico (13 percent), and Egypt (11 percent) with the remaining imports (19 percent) coming from several other producing countries. The total value of the United States’ salt sales in 2022 was estimated to be $3.5 billion. The average price of vacuum pan salt in 2022 was $230/t, which is a modest price increase over the past five years from $200/t in 2017. The average price of solar salt has also modestly increased in the past five years from $100/t in 2017 to $130/t in 2022. The average price for rock salt in 2021 was $60/t; it has been fairly stable over the past five years, ranging between a high of $61/t (2018) and a low of $55/t (2017), while the price of salt in brine has also remained fairly consistent with historical trends at about $9/t. Table 1 World production of salt, estimated. Total world production in 2022 is estimated at 294 Mt. China remains the world’s largest salt producer at approximately 64 Mt, while India and the United States (the world’s second and third largest producers, respectively) produced an estimated 45 Mt and 42 Mt in 2022, respectively. Over the past two years, India has increased production by 150 percent from an estimated 29 Mt in 2020. These three countries combined account for 51 percent of the total world production, while 19 other countries collectively produce a total of approximately 143 Mt (49 percent of the total world production). The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) expects the demand for salt in brine that is used in the chloralkali industry to continue to increase in 2023 as demand for caustic soda and polyvinyl chloride increases globally, especially in Asia.

SALT

Authored by:
Peter Christensen, Cody Vining

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From sessions to strategy: Revealing long-term and emerging innovation trends in data analytics, intelligent systems and automation

Mining education gets federal boost as industry faces workforce crunch

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To view the past issues of the UCA magazine you must be a member of SME/UCA.

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

SAND AND GRAVEL

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