China's soda ash production has been increasing by more than 1m/tpa since 1999, making it a major producer & exporter of the chemical, according to the China Soda Ash Industry Association. The country's soda ash output exceeded 11M tons in 2003, surpassing the US for the first time to become the world's number one producer. Output in 2004 rose nearly 13.5% to reach 12.5M tons. In the first 5 months of 2005, the country produced 5.56M tons, up 13% year-on-year. The association attributed the increase in 2005 mainly to new production from the 300,000/tpa project of Huaerrun in Jiangsu Province, the 200,000/tpa project of Hebang in Sichuan Province & the 100,000/tpa project of Zhongxing in Henan Province, all of which came on stream in late 2004. It predicted that output in 2005 will increase by more than 1M tons over 2004. Soda ash products has also expanded.
