Global growth in soda ash consumption has settled down at about 4.5% per annum, up from a level of 2.5% about 3 years ago. This is led by strong growth in the Asian region (led by China and India) as …
Global growth in soda ash consumption has settled down at about 4.5% per annum, up from a level of 2.5% about 3 years ago. This is led by strong growth in the Asian region (led by China and India) as well as Eastern Europe and South America. With Chinese producers struggling to meet their own domestic demand, prices all round are very firm. In fact spot prices have been rising in all areas. Indian producers have raised prices by almost USD 40 per metric tonne in the last fortnight to three weeks and elsewhere in the US, ANSAC is quoting CIF spot prices of around USD 450 per metric tonne, which are up by almost USD 100 over spot prices prevalent about 6 months back. Gujarat Heavy Chemicals (GHCL) management is confident of significantly improving both revenue and margin in soda ash business. Based on the above strong performance indicators, GHCL expects more than 20% growth in top line.