No big rise in the forecast for this leavening agent
Staff -- Purchasing, 6/7/2001 2:00:00 AM
The sodium bicarbonate market has been mature, showing steady growth in the past several years of about 4%/yr. Buyers, suppliers and analysts agree that, in general, there is little to suggest a change in the supply and demand balance through the end of the year.
Buyers responding to PURCHASING 's monthly survey of chemicals transaction prices place the sodium bicarbonate price average at about 21¢/lb for second quarter 2001. While buyers are seeing some slight price slippage in the marketplace due to weaker demand and available supply, prices are likely to go up about 1¢/lb overall by third quarter 2001, and remain flat through year-end, according to PURCHASING 's survey.
The economic downturn in the U.S. and in other parts of the world has, to date, had a minimal effect on demand for sodium bicarbonate for food uses. "Projections are still fairly good on the food side of the market," says one marketing manager for sodium bicarbonate, "But on the industrial side of the business we are beginning to see that high energy costs have an impact. Some producers are even discontinuing production and exiting the sodium bicarbonate market due to high energy costs," he says.
Competition in the domestic sodium bicarbonate market used in food end uses is primarily made up of Church & Dwight Co., New York, N.Y;, IMC Global, based in Philadelphia, Pa.; and FMC Corp., also in Philadelphia. Also, Natrium Products, a much smaller producer of sodium bicarbonate, has a facility located near Cortland, N.Y.
American soda is a new entrant into the soda ash and sodium bicarb market. One market manager at FMC Corp. says, "We haven't seen American soda compete in the food side of the business, though they are developing product for industrial and agricultural feed applications to date." However, he doesn't dismiss the idea that American might choose to enter the food market in the future. He says that supply and demand has been fairly well balanced for years, and has difficulty understanding American soda's entrance to the bicarb and soda ash markets. He says that from a demand perspective, there wasn't much need for additional supply. "Having said that, there hasn't been any great imbalance as a result of American soda, either," he says.
The food and beverage market makes up about one-third of the total demand for sodium bicarbonate used in the U.S.
Used as a leavening agent, sodium bicarbonate is added to breads, cake mixes and other baking goods. Other end uses include agricultural applications (about 25%), industrial chemical processing (about 20%) and industrial cleaning products (about 9%). Pharmaceutical and personal care products manufacturing (6%), municipal and industrial water treatment (4%), and blast media applications (3%) are smaller end-use markets for sodium bicarbonate.
Sodium bicarbonate suppliers
| Producer | Capacity (1,000 tons/yr) |
| Source: PURCHASING |
|
| Church & Dwight & Co. | |
| Old Fort, Ohio | 280 |
| Green River, Wyo. | 240 |
| FMC Corp. | |
| Green River, Wyo. | 95 |
| IMC Global | |
| White River, Colo. | 110 |
| Natrium Products | |
| Cortland, N.Y. | 15 |
Supplies tighten, but prices remain flat
04/07/1999Chemicals Business Intelligence
02/12/2009
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