I was referring to Tata chemical soda ash produced in india which is synthetically manufactured by Solvay process from lime stone , Sea salt and coke , coal , gas as energy sources.The production cost of synthetic Soda ash so produced as above could be different at different countries- since a lot of factors are involved.
Yes, the cheapest soda ash is available in USA which is naturally mined…NaCo3 straight from mines- no synthesis required…no raw materials needed…no electricity … so does not need any synthetic process such as Solvay…Trona belongs to this catagory. But such natural Soda ash mines are found only in USA , China &Turkey. So Tata chemical is taking advantage of availability of natural Soda ash locally in USA.
Today , 70% of Global soda ash demand is met by synthetic process, as natural Soda ash such as Trona mines are limited to few nations. However , things may change. Solvay process is energy intensive and involves Carbon foot print. Now countries are trying to reduce carbon foot print. so anything natural not involving carbon emissions would be in demand and therefore price of natural Soda might go up even exceed cost of synthetic Soda ash.
As of date , India does not have Trona mines.
So we will continue to use Synthetic process and we are increasing capacities to meet local demand.
Found a very comprehensive and interesting article on Trona vs synthetic …throws a lot of insights in to soda ash manufacturing , production cost etc across the Globe and how Solvay is trying to minimise the carbon foot print by improving process and how Trona can not meet global demand due to limited availability.
https://cen.acs.org/business/specialty-chemicals/synthetic-soda-ash-survive/101/i7
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