Soda ash output in Wyoming rose slightly in 2004, and the estimated value of the product increased by about USD 20 million for the same period, according to an industry report.
However, the industry …
Soda ash output in Wyoming rose slightly in 2004, and the estimated value of the product increased by about USD 20 million for the same period, according to an industry report. However, the industry lost about 100 jobs in 2004, according to federal estimates. Competition from Asia, particularly China, continues to pose a threat to Wyoming soda ash producers: for the first time in 100 years China overtook the USA in 2003 as the world leader in soda ash production, the report said. Overall, global demand is expected to grow by between 1.5% to 2% per annum over the next few years, notwithstanding economic and energy problems in certain areas of the world, the US Geological Survey report predicts. The annual soda ash production report was prepared by Dennis Kostick, who follows the soda ash industry for the Geological Survey. Southwest Wyoming contains almost all of the USA“s mineable trona reserves and the world“s largest deposits of trona, which is mined and then processed into soda ash. The four producers operating west of Green River in Sweetwater County, Wyoming accounted for about 35% of global soda ash output in 2004, according to federal figures. Wyoming producers also accounted for more than 90% of the domestic production of natural soda ash. The report predicts US demand may rise slightly in 2005. The four Green River companies produced about 10.8 million tons of soda ash in 2004, up from 10.6 million tons in 2003. China, a major world producer of synthetic soda ash, output an estimated 12 million tons of soda ash in 2004, according to the Geological Survey. Worldwide, soda ash production totaled 39 million tons, up 1 million tons from 2003. The report said the value of US soda ash produced in 2004 was estimated to total USD 820 million, up from USD 800 million in 2003. Total employment within both the mine and plants at the four producers in southwest Wyoming decreased from 2,600 jobs in 2003 to 2,500 jobs in 2004, the report said. The industry announced price increases of USD 22 per short ton in the 3Q of 2004 to offset higher energy and transportation costs. “It was uncertain by year end how much of the increase will be realized for (2005), but industry sources were optimistic that most of the proposed price increase would be accepted by customers,” Kostick said.