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Sodium sulfate may be recovered from naturally occurring brines or as a by-product of other operations. Natural sodium sulfate is extracted from brines or lakes that are enriched with the product. Sodium sulfate produced as a by-product generally occurs during the production of man-made fibers, chrome chemicals, hydrochloric acid, lead battery recycling, formic acid or desulfurization of flue gases. Natural sodium sulfate can be as pure as that of by-product manufacture. Types of sodium sulfate include anhydrous sodium sulfate, salt cake and Glauber’s.
China is the largest producer and exporter of sodium sulfate. Jiangsu Province is the world’s largest sodium sulfate production base and is expected to produce over 4.8 million metric tons by 2013. In 2003, Lautan Hongze Chemical Industry began commercial production of the world’s largest sodium sulfate plant in Hongze County. China’s production, consumption, and exports of sodium sulfate have been increasing significantly in the past few years. In 2008, China represented more than three-fourths of the global capacity and more than 70% of the production.
In North America, the closure of several plants has helped to eliminate the oversupply situation the sodium sulfate market had faced in the past. Temporary suspensions of operations are also occurring as a reaction to the current global economic downturn. In early 2009, Exide at Baton Rouge announced temporary suspension of operations and Elementis at Castle Hayne declared force majeure because of the shrinking economy. North American demand has been decreasing in both the textile industry because of the entry of cheaper imports and in the detergent industry as the demand for liquid detergents that do not use sodium sulfate increases and demand for powdered detergents that use sodium sulfate decreases.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of sodium sulfate:
Mexico has been a developing market for sodium sulfate lately mostly as a result of demand from the detergent sector. Along with production, exports to South America also grew steadily until 2005. However, with increasing domestic demand, Mexican exports have been declining and imports have been increasing for the past three to four years.
Global demand is expected to exhibit growth of 2–3% per year in the near future as exports to Central and South America increase to satisfy the expanding use of powdered detergents. A similar growth pattern is also expected in Asia and other developing countries. Growth in developing countries where dry powder is used typically instead of liquid detergents is expected to be above GDP levels. The current market in North America is balanced to slightly tight. With the current economic downturn, there has been an increase in consumption of sodium sulfate in the detergent sector in North America. In early 2009, liquid detergent producers reformulated their products by shifting from 1X concentration to 2X concentration; there were some producers that even went to 3X concentration. This resulted in an increase in dry powder sales as some consumers went back to powdered products feeling that they were getting a better value for their purchase with dry powder than with concentrated liquid detergents. With increasing raw material prices, the need to lower costs to maintain margins has provided an impetus for the increased use of sodium sulfate. This demand is expected to continue, at least in the short term.
The Chinese market is the world’s largest and is growing at over 3% annually. China has the largest reserves of mirabilite and has been building and expanding capacities to meet global demand. As production costs are relatively lower than in the rest of the world, China has become the major supplier of sodium sulfate for global consumption.
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