The global industrial salts market was valued at USD 14,067 million in 2020 to USD 16607.38 million by 2027, at a CAGR of 2.4% from 2021 to 2027. Rising demand for the product in key application industries, including highway deicing, oil & gas industry, water treatment, agriculture, and chemical processing, primarily for chlorine, caustic soda, and soda ash, is expected to drive market growth over the forecast period. The Chlor-alkali sector in the chemical industry is the major consumer of the product as it is an inexpensive and abundantly available source of sodium and chlorine ion. Salt production through mines is high in landlocked countries. It is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period with the increasing use of rock salt in application industries such as highway de-icing. However, the availability of large water bodies such as sea and ocean with high saline content is expected to drive the demand for brine. Furthermore, production using the extraction of brine is the least expensive technology.
The value chain commences with exploring salt deposits, dimensions, their structure, and their depth. The underground exploration to obtain rock salt is predominantly conducted by drilling and seismic measurement. Extraction of these salt is done through the mining process using different technologies such as conventional mining by means of drilling and blasting. Furthermore, solution mining is the method where water is pumped underground to dissolve the solid salt, and saline water (brine) is extracted. This salty brine is then de-watered to produce solid salt crystals. Salt can also be mined using evaporating saline water from oceans and salty lakes.
The supply chain management in the industrial salt market governs and monitors the entire channel to ensure reliable salt distribution under competitive terms and conditions. Major players involved in the market use various transport carriers, including cost-effective railway lines, waterways, and their logistics services, to improve supply chain efficiency. The products are distributed to several application industries, including chemical processing, oil & gas, water treatment, de-icing, agriculture, and many others through efficient and customer-oriented distribution networks. The companies have their distribution depots across the regions to distribute the products. In addition, companies distribute products through third-party distributors such as stockiest, retailers, and different institutions.
Commercial and residential water softening units consume a large amount of salt to remove calcium and magnesium ions that cause the hardness and buildup of a film of alkaline deposits in industrial and household equipment and pipes. In addition, the application of salt in wastewater treatment is expected to drive market growth over the forecast period. Barnyard and grazing livestock consumes supplementary salt ratios to maintain proper nutrition. Increasing salt penetration in animal nutrition and water conditioning is expected to propel the industrial salt market over the forecast period.
Increasing salt applications in oil & gas exploration as drilling fluid; pulp & paper industry for bleaching wood pulp, and processing of metals such as aluminum, copper, steel, beryllium, and vanadium is driving the demand for industrial salts. Furthermore, industrial salts find applications in tanning and leather treatment, textiles, and the dying industry for separating organic contaminants and rubber manufacturing, which has a positive impact on market growth over the forecast period.
A large amount of salt is produced by mining buried underground salt deposits by drilling, blasting, and solution mining process. To conduct these mining activities in all the regions, producers need numerous environmental and mineral extraction permits. Players involved require exploration and mining licenses to extract and acquire ownership of salt from mining authorities in Europe, as stated in Federal Mining Act. Different government authorities impose various regulations regarding the health and safety of miners.
The companies need various water-related rights and permits pertaining to air emission, approvals for surface water discharge of process material and waste, injection of brine and wastewater into subsurface wells. In addition to all the regulations above, players in the market are supposed to follow several other rules, which are expected to restrain market growth over the forecast period.
The study categorizes the industrial salts market based on source, product, application, and regions.
Based on the Source, the global industrial salts market has been segmented into Brine and Salt Mine. Salt Mine accounted for the fastest-growing segment with a CAGR of 2.5% in the global industrial salts market during the forecast period. Industrial salts are the chemical compounds commonly known as sodium chloride and consumed on a day-to-day basis on a large scale directly or indirectly. These salts can be obtained from two different sources, including buried dried-up oceans and brine solution. Subsurface caverns, saline lakes such as the Great Salt Lake, the Dead Sea, the Salton Sea, and the saltwater oceans are three principle brine sources.
Salt mines are evaporite mineral deposits that include bedded salt, salt domes, and playa salts; however, underground salt mining is confined to bedded salts and salt domes. Bedded rock salt deposits are formed by the accumulation of sodium chloride crystals left by the extensive and widespread evaporation of ancient marine bodies of water. Salt mines are associated with sedimentary rocks and minerals such as limestone, sandstone, shale, and gypsum. The economic beds of salt that are mined usually are more significant than 8 feet in thickness. Salt domes are formed when lateral and vertical pressures are applied to stratified salt deposits. Salt mining is similar to other underground mining operations where salt is mined using the room and pillar method. Salt obtained from mines is drilled, undercut, blasted, mucked, crushed, screened, and transported to the surface for processing.
Based on region, the global industrial salts market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America, and the Middle East & Africa. The Middle East & Africa has the highest growth rate of 3.3% during the forecast period 2021-2027. Salt production techniques used in many Sub-Saharan African countries are conventional and, in some regions, primitive. Iran has the largest evaporite deposits in the region. Iraq is primarily characterized by tertiary bedded salt, which lies at shallow depth and extends into Iran & Syria. Flat bedded deep Jurassic salt deposits occur in southern Iraq and Kuwait. United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Saudi Arabia have the oldest and very deep deposits in the gulf region. Israel is rich in resources and is at the crossroad of the three saltwater sources, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Dead Sea.
The Middle East & Africa is expected to indicate an increase in the industrial salt demand because of industrial diversification in the region, particularly the expansion of chemical production. This will spur the output of chlorine and caustic soda, which are the primary products of salt electrolysis and basic raw material in most industries. An increase in food processing and a wide variety of manufacturing activities will drive regional sales growth. Solar evaporation is the most common method for extracting salt from brine. The low cost relative to high energy-intensive rock salt mining and brine extraction processes. This indicates extraction of salt from brine accounts for a large share in the industrial salt market. The countries located in the Middle East and Africa possess climate that is ideally suited for solar salt production, which is further supporting salt production from brine.
The global industrial salts market is fragmented into a few major players K+S Group, Tata Chemicals Limited, Rio Tinto Plc., Compass Minerals, Cargill Inc., INEOS Enterprises, China National Salt Industry Corporation (CNSIC), Morton Salt, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Delmon Salt Factory, Donald Brown Group, AkzoNobel N.V., Exportadora De Sal SA, European Salt Company, and ZOUTMAN Industries. They have generated the maximum market share in 2020. These market players are adopting growth strategies to strengthen their position in the market. Product launches and partnerships are the key growth strategies adopted by different key players in the market.
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