Resumen de Solvay to add 500,000 tpy to soda ash output
Four of Solvay’s seven soda ash plants, which are “dedicated to both the local and export markets” in their regions, will undergo debottlenecking activities to increase capacity utilization by 500,000 tpy of soda ash and 100,000 tpy of sodium bicarbonate by 2021, thus making that material available for sale.The plants which will undergo the majority of the debottlenecking processes are in the United States, Italy, Bulgaria and Spain. “According to our analysis, 2019 is a better pricing environment than 2018, but 2018 was a [backward step] because we suffered a strong increase in the cost of raw materials and energy,” Clemente said. While repeating statements from a previous interview with Fastmarkets, Clemente again stopped short of giving a price for soda ash that would be seen as fair.It is also possible that estimates of what fair pricing is could change in the eyes of Solvay’s customers.Separately, the soda ash producer is making more use of more sustainable energy sources, which will both drive down its costs of production and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the soda ash plant in Rheinberg, Germany, by 30%.
