Chinese export prices of soda ash rose to an average of USD 224.5 per tonne in the 1Q 2008, up 41.7% over the same period 2007, according to customs statistics.
China exported 467,000 tonnes of soda …
Chinese export prices of soda ash rose to an average of USD 224.5 per tonne in the 1Q 2008, up 41.7% over the same period 2007, according to customs statistics. China exported 467,000 tonnes of soda ash in the 1Q, up 4.1% year-on-year. However, the total value surged 47.5% to USD 100 million. The average export prices gained 46% from USD 158.9 per tonne in May 2007 to USD 231.8 in March 2008. Export to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reached 258,000 tonnes, accounting for more than half of the total volume, as ASEAN demand for chemical products kept increasing on growing manufacturing capacity and consumption, analysts said. The stronger bargaining power of China in international market was behind the major price rise, analysts said, as China and the United States, the two major soda ash exporters, developed different market priorities. As the US focused more on exporting its natural soda ash to the European and American markets, China has gained an ever-more important role in the Asian market. At the same time, production costs have continued to rise as crude oil prices hit historical highs, which has also driven up prices, analysts said. A customs officer warned that domestic manufacturing capacity has already become stretched by the expanding construction and chemical industries in China, and many domestic manufacturers are running at full capacity.