Caustic Potash

05 June 2006 00:00  [Source: ICB Americas]

 

Producer	Capacity
Ashta Chemicals, Ashtabula, Ohio	82
Erco Worldwide, Port Edwards, Wis.	80
Occidental Chemical, Delaware City, Del.	115
Occidental Chemical, Mobile, Ala.	75
Occidental Chemical, Muscle Shoals, Ala.	242
Olin Chlor Alkali Products,?Charleston, Tenn.	160
TOTAL	754

*Thousands of tons per year of caustic potash (potassium hydroxide, KOH). Commercial production is usually by electrolysis of potash (potassium chloride) using mercury or membrane cells. Caustic soda may be made in the same cells.

Occidental Chemical announced in April that it would convert its membrane cell chlor-alkali plant in Taft, La., to produce caustic potash. The company also announced it will close its Muscle Shoals, Ala., mercury cell chlor-alkali operation sometime in 2008, after completing the conversion. Muscle Shoals has a capacity of 154,000 tons annually of chlorine and 242,000 tons of potassium hydroxide.??In 2005, Occidental Chemical acquired Vulcan Materials Company and with it, a chloralkali plant at Port Edwards, Wis., that manufactured caustic potash. Because of antitrust concerns for the caustic potash market, the FTC required Occidental to divest the Port Edwards facility, which it did, to Erco Worldwide.

Early in 2005 ASHTA Chemicals announced it would construct a membrane cell chlor-alkali plant at El Dorado, Ark., with startup scheduled for mid-2007. The plant will produce chlorine and caustic potash, but the plant’s capacity has not been disclosed.

Olin Chlor Alkali Products reentered the caustic potash business in 2004 by converting 110,000 tons of caustic soda production at Charleston, Tenn., to 160,000 tons of caustic potash capacity. In 1993, Olin had sold its caustic potash business to Ashta Chemicals.

PROFILE LAST PUBLISHED 7/21/03; THIS REVISION 6/5/06.

DEMAND

2004: 447,000 tons; 2005: 424,000 tons; 2009: 460,000 tons, projected. Demand equals production plus imports (2004: 21,000 tons; 2005: 29,000 tons) less exports (2004: 44,000 tons; 2005: 66,000 tons).

 

 

GROWTH

Historical (2000–2005): -2.1% (negative 2.1%) per year. Future: 1.9% per year through 2009

PRICE

Historical (2000–2005): High, $18.50 per cwt., list, liq., 45% basis tanks, ex-terminal; low, $15.75 per cwt., same basis. Current: $18.50 per cwt., same basis.

 

 

USES

Potassium carbonate, 26%; potassium phosphates (especially tetrapotassium pyrophosphate), 16%; potassium soaps and detergents, 9%; other potassium chemicals (including potassium acetate, cyanide, permanganate and citrate), 17%; liquid fertilizers, 10%; miscellaneous, 22%.

 

 

 

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

As a base, caustic potash is stronger than caustic soda and its salts have greater solubility. But, because it is more expensive to manufacture, its applications are limited to those circumstances where these characteristics are needed, or where the potassium cation is required.

Caustic potash’s largest use segment, potassium carbonate, has been declining in recent years in the U.S. The leading use for potassium carbonate (about 40%) is the manufacture of glass for cathode ray tubes (CRTs), used in televisions and computer monitors, and some other specialty glasses. Over the past decade and especially since 2000, the manufacture of CRTs has been shifting to Asia. In addition, CRTs are being displaced in many applications by flat-panel displays.

Potassium phosphates meanwhile are showing strong demand and are growing at better than 4% annually. These phosphates, mostly tetrapotassium pyrophosphate or TKPP, are used as detergent builders in liquid products for industrial and institutional cleaners. The liquid products have shown dramatic growth because of ease of measuring, mixing, and dispensing. The phosphates provide buffering, chelating and cleaning duties, similar to those of sodium phosphates, but are more soluble allowing for more concentrated products to be formulated.

In making potassium soaps, caustic potash is reacted with long-chain-free fatty acids (saponification) to produce the potassium salt of the acid. These salts are more soluble than the corresponding sodium salts that are made with caustic soda, and thus are favored for liquid soap products, like liquid hand soap.

Caustic potash finds use in some liquid fertilizers. Potassium is one of the three major plant nutrients (the others being nitrogen and phosphorus). Caustic potash in these fertilizers is the source of potassium, and used on plants that are sensitive to chloride ions, like tobacco, where potassium chloride isn’t tolerated. In recent years, the convenience of liquid fertilizers has opened new applications in higher-value applications such as plant nurseries.

OUTLOOK

With the exception of potassium carbonate, all of caustic potash’s application segments are in step with GDP growth. The slow decline in potassium carbonate demand will temper overall growth to 1.9% annually, through 2009.

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