European soda ash prices have recovered slightly as US imports continue to decline. Soda ash from the US has been diverted away from Europe through a combination of anti-dumping duties, a strong dolla…
European soda ash prices have recovered slightly as US imports continue to decline. Soda ash from the US has been diverted away from Europe through a combination of anti-dumping duties, a strong dollar, and rapid growth rates in other regions. US soda ash is being increasingly sold to the Asian markets of Japan (which will be losing more domestic synthetic ash production), Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and to Latin America. It is predicted that US exports to the Far East and Americas will increase by 400,000 tonnes per year in 1996 and 1997 and by 600,000 in 1998. US exports in 1996 are projected to reach 4 million tonnes, of which 50% will go to the Asia-Pacific region. World-wide growth will average 3% during 1996-2001 and almost all of the incremental demand will be from South America and the Far East. Flat demand is projected for Europe, the US and Japan. Japanese companies are stopping production in favour of US imports because of high-cost synthetic manufacture. By mid-1997 a 140,000 tonne-per-year plant at Chiba, Japan, is to be shut down by Asahi Glass (see Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories No. 4-96).