The salt used in industrial applications such as chemical processing, deicing, oil and gas, water treatment, agriculture etc. are known as industrial salts.  It is unrefined salt as opposed to the refined salt that most households use for cooking purposes. Global industrial salts market is estimated to grow with 2.50% CAGR during the year 2019 – 2027.  The base year considered for the study is 2018 and the estimated period is between 2019 and 2027. The following factors drive the growth of this market:

• Demand from application industries
• Global snowfall conditions
• Lack of good substitute for salt

The most important driver is the demand from application industries. Industrial salt has a large number of direct and indirect uses in application industries majorly in ice-control and chemical processing. Fluctuations in winter weather conditions are expected to drive the demand for rock salt and salt in brine for its application in ice-control and road stabilization primarily in North America and Europe.

In addition, salt is added to soil to stabilize it and to provide firmness to the foundation upon which highways are built. The chlor-alkali sector in the chemical industry is the major consumer of salt for the manufacturing of caustic soda, soda ash and chlorine as it is an inexpensive and abundantly available source of chlorine ion. The applications of salt in various industries along with improving production technology is expected to drive the demand over the forecast period. Growing chemical industry in the Asia Pacific, basically in India and China is projected to drive the market over the forecast period.

The largest segment by-product is the rock salt. Rock salts are relatively inexpensive, and the majority of the state and local governments has long-term contracts with rock salt producers for its application in deicing for roads, sidewalks, and driveways. Rock salt does not require any purification for its use in de-icing roads. Rock salt also has applications in food processing as a flavor enhancer and to cure a wide variety of foods such as bacon and fish. Rock salt finds application in the agriculture industry for the preparation of animal feeds. Hence it forms the largest segment due to its cheapness and widespread application. The fastest growing segment by product is salt in the brine.  Salt in brine is the high-concentration of the salt in water which is obtained from the saline waterbodies and dissolving rock salt by injecting water in the wells and pumping out salty brine solution. The demand for salt in brine is expected to grow over the forecast period with an increase in the demand and price for caustic soda in the Asia Pacific. Salt in brine obtained from the solution mining technique have high purity, and a majority of the chemical companies produce their own artificial brine using solution mining technique.

The restraints and challenges of the industrial salts market are strict government regulations, and high dependency on external factors make the market volatile. The main restraint is to comply with the regulations of the country’s regulation. There are many regulations for mining or extraction of salt. For example, according to Federal Mining Act players involved in salt mining need an exploration license which will accord the holder the exclusive right to explore for the salt and to extract and acquire ownership in the salt that must be stripped or released during planned explorations. Many companies have their production facilities located on land leased from governmental authorities or third parties which generally require them to continue mining in order to retain the lease. The various regulations and to comply with them is a major task for salt mining companies. Also, countries like Indonesia put restrictions on import to improve the conditions of its manufacturers.  These regulations hence form the main restraint for the industrial salt market.

The report on global Industrial Salts includes segmentation on the basis of source, product and application.

The source is sub-segmented into:

• Brine
• Salt mine

The product is sub-segmented into:

• Rock Salt
• Salt in Brine
• Solar Salt
• Vacuum Pan

The application is sub-segmented into:

• Chemical processing
• Deicing
  • Caustic soda
  • Soda ash
  • Chlorine
• Oil and Gas
• Water treatment
• Agriculture
• Others

Geographically, the global Industrial Salts market has been segmented on the basis of four major regions, which includes:

• Industrial Salt North America Market: the United States & Canada.
• Industrial Salt Europe Market: Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Rest of Europe.
• Industrial Salt Asia Pacific Market: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Rest of Asia Pacific.
• Industrial Salt Rest of World Market: Latin America, Middle East & Africa.

The Asia Pacific is the largest and the fastest growing region. This is because of the strong demand from India and China. Many countries in the Asia Pacific region are yet to reach their full potential. Hence there is going to be industrial growth in this region. Many industries require salt as an ingredient or for its processes. After a couple of years of relatively sluggish growth, the global soda ash demand is estimated to grow at an above-average growth. This is because of a rebound in Chinese demand that had been flat over recent years, and strong demand growth in emerging economies of South East Asia and India. Chemical processing industry has many applications for industrial salt. Asia’s growth is mainly due to the growth of the industries.

The global industrial salts market segmented into the market by source, product, and application. The market by the source is further subdivided into Brine and salt mine. The market by product is further subdivided into rock salt, salt in the brine, solar salt and vacuum pan. The market by application is further subdivided into chemical processing, deicing, oil and gas, water treatment, agriculture and others. The chemical processing sub-segment is further subdivided into caustic soda, soda ash, and chlorine.

The major market players of the global Industrial salts market are:

• China National Salt Industry Corporation (CNSIC)
• European Salt Company (Acquired By K+S Aktiengesellschaft)
• Morton Salt
• Rio Tinto Plc.
• Tata Chemicals Limited
• Others

Company Profiles covers analysis of important players. These companies are using organic and inorganic strategies for growth. For instance, in September 2018, Ineos enterprises entered into a binding agreement to acquire the chemical intermediates business of Flint Hills Resources. In May 2018 Mitsui Co. Ltd and Sime Darby Property Berhad, a real estate company in Malaysia, entered into an agreement the sale and purchase of the land for the development of leasing build-to-suit (customized) logistics warehouses and light industrial facilities for leasing in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur. In March 2018, K+S Aktiengesellschaft decided to develop a new off-shore brine field by drilling a new cavern at its Dutch production plant. In March 2018 Tata Chemicals launched MedikarbTM – India’s first branded pharmaceutical grade sodium bicarbonate for pharma API and formulation manufacturing.

Key Findings of the global Industrial salts market.

• The fastest growing application is water treatment.
• Pharmaceutical salts have critical uses.
• Solar salt production is the least expensive technology available.
• Vacuum pan salt is the most expensive salt