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Article: Sodium Sulfate Market Flounders After Brief Period of Recovery.
- Article from:
- Chemical Market Reporter
- Article date:
- August 17, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Schnell Publishing Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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AFTER A STRONG YEAR and a half in which the sodium sulfate industry saw two price increases driven by strong demand in the US and Latin America and the loss of some production, the market has hit a lull. Capacity has increased, and consumption is down because of the Asian crisis and dwindling demand in the US textile industry.
A year ago, sodium sulfate producers nominated two price hikes based primarily on the strength of the export market, particularly Latin America, which has been growing at about 10 percent per year because of increased demand for detergents.
Last year also saw the removal of nearly 100,000 tons of capacity. FMC Corporation stopped ...