# Salt

Sodium chloride, made almost everywhere, feeds the chlor-alkali industry and keeps winter roads open; once it funded empires.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/

Industrial minerals · No. 59

- Not on a critical list
- HHI 938 · unconcentrated
 Industrial minerals · Foundation · Matter

Salt once made up 30-50% of Venice's import tonnage; today 42% of US salt feeds the chlorine and caustic soda industry.

Chart: Illustration: Salt

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Salt comes four ways: rock salt mined from ancient beds and domes, solution mining that returns brine, solar evaporation of seawater, and vacuum-pan refining. World output was about 270 Mt in 2025.

##### Three things to know

1. US vacuum-pan salt sold for about $260/t in 2025, while salt in brine fetched only about $11/t.
2. Several small icing events need more road salt than one big snowstorm, so winter stockpiles matter more than reserves.
3. Despite being the second-largest producer, the US relied on imports for 31% of its salt in 2025.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Source**Rock beds, domes, brines or seawater
2. 2 **Extraction**Mining, solution mining or solar evaporation
3. 3 **Grades**Rock, brine, solar or vacuum-pan salt
4. 4 **Users**Chlor-alkali plants, road depots, food
5. 5 **Products**PVC, chlorine, caustic soda, ice-free roads
 Covered in [What makes something a commodityCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/what-is-a-commodity/)[From ground to marketCommodities](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/commodities/from-ground-to-market/)[The chemical industry: what it makes and how it is organisedChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/chem-industry-map/)[How a chemical process works: reactions, separations, catalysts and flowsheetsChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/how-chemical-processes-work/)[The economics of a chemical plant: costs, prices and profitChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/plant-economics-costs-and-profit/)[Heavy inorganics: salt, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorusChemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/learn/chemicals/heavy-inorganic-chemicals/)and 16 more

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/salt/links/index.md)