The Market For Soda Ash

Marguerite Morrin of Chemical Market Associates Inc, summarises the CMAI's world soda ash update in this article. The three major end uses for soda ash are glass, chemicals and detergents, which together account for around 74% of total demand. The glass industry is by far the most significant end user sector, consuming more than half of soda ash produced. Container glass is the largest single application with 24% of overall demand. Flat glass follows with 21% demand. In 2005, world soda ash capacity totalled about 48m metric tons. The regions with the largest share of capacity include northeast Asia, followed by North America.