Chlorine: Feedstocks
Chlorine is really a power story
What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.Chlorine needs salt, water and a great deal of electricity. Salt is cheap and widely available; power is the decisive input. Plants with captive or cheap power (US Gulf gas, Middle East gas, Chinese coal, Indian captive coal and increasingly renewables) set the cost floor. Because chlorine cannot travel far, local power price decides which regions keep running when markets are weak.
Inputs per tonne
| Input | Quantity per tonne | Role | Share of cost | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NaCl Salt | 1.65-1.75 t per t Cl2 | source of chlorine and sodium | about 10% of cash cost (indicative) | EU BREF 2014 (indicative); USGS MCS 2026 |
| Electricity | 2.5-2.8 MWh per t Cl2 (membrane) | electrolysis | about 50-60% of cash cost (indicative) | EU BREF 2014 (indicative) |
| Gas Natural gas | steam about 0.5-1 t per t caustic evaporated (indicative) | caustic concentration; captive power | about 10% (indicative) | indicative |
| Tc Thermal coal | about 1.3-1.6 t coal per ECU if all power is coal-fired (indicative) | power generation | inside electricity cost | indicative (basis: 2.7 MWh at about 0.5 t coal per MWh) |
Who is low-cost, and why
In Nov 2025 Argus put the NW Europe ECU cash cost at about $560, while NE Asia ex-China ran about $58 per ECU above Chinese producers; in 2022 Europe reached $1,300-1,640 per ECU against about $590 in the Americas. US Gulf gas-powered and Chinese coal-powered plants are lowest cost; European plants are highest.
Raw materials on the commodity table
NaCl SaltWhat it is made into
| Product | Note |
|---|---|
| VCM Vinyl chloride monomer | about a third of chlorine, via EDC |
| PVC PVC | 57% chlorine by weight |
| NaOH Caustic soda | co-product in a fixed 1.13:1 ratio |
| HCl Hydrochloric acid | made from chlorine and hydrogen to balance chlorine, or as a by-product |
| PU Polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols) | via phosgene to MDI and TDI |
| PO Propylene oxide | chlorohydrin route |
| EPX Epoxy resins | via epichlorohydrin |
| TiO2 Titanium dioxide | chloride route |
| PC Polycarbonate | phosgene route |
| Sil Silicones | via methyl chloride |
| PTFE Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF) | via chloroform and HCFC-22 |
| WT Water treatment chemicals | chlorine, hypochlorite and metal chlorides |