Soda Ash prices surging in China owing to shortage in market

Soda Ash prices in China have continued to trace an upward trajectory due to favourable buying sentiments amidst its limited availability in the local market. Demand for Soda Ash has been firm since the gradual pick-up in market activities post the Spring Festival in China.

Traders have been anxious that the outages in China in February that resulted in the short supply of Soda Ash in the domestic market. Although existing manufacturers of Soda Ash have been raising their plant operating rates week over week to cater to the demand, the rise in output has been insufficient to combat the supply crises since mid-February. Furthermore, the announcement of another shutdown scheduled in Tangshan Sanyou Chemical’s Soda Ash plant with a massive manufacturing capacity of near 3.4 million MT per annum between April-September has exacerbated the concerns over Soda Ash supply in the upcoming quarter. The actual tenure for the outage is yet to be announced.

As Soda Ash is primarily imported from Russia to various Asian countries, the rise in the price of Soda Ash by Russian manufacturers in lieu of the rise in energy cost has led to a spike in the imported prices of Soda Ash cargoes. Solvay, a Belgian peer of BASF, announced that the company would be implementing consistent positive revisions upon Soda Ash prices due to an unprecedented rise in production cost.

Soda Ash price in China surged by nearly 7% in the first week of March. As per ChemAnalyst. “Soda Ash prices are expected to witness further hike until the supply of the product in China attain normalcy. Despite the fluctuating demand for Soda Ash from the construction sector, its prices in China have been tracing continuous rise as the supply situation has been overpowering the low demand in several downstream segments.”