US Feb soda ash exports rise 8.5% year on year

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US soda ash exports for February were up by 8.5% from the same month a year ago, according to data recently made available by the US Census Bureau.

The increase was the result of more volumes shipped to various Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. The increase in exports to Asia coincided with a major plant outage in China, which reduced Chinese soda ash exports to other Asian countries.

Month on month, exports rose by 13.3% in February, the US Census Bureau said. Year to date, US exports were down by 3.7% in February.

Production in February was down by 1.7% from the same month a year ago, while consumption was down by 5.9% in February compared with the same month in 2015, according to data provided by the US Geological Survey (USGS).

North American soda ash producers include Ciner Resources, Industria del Alcali, Searles Valley Minerals, Solvay Chemicals, Tata Chemicals and Tronox.