SIC 2812
ALKALIES AND CHLORINE

This industry classification includes establishments engaged in manufacturing alkalies and chlorine. Examples of products include compressed or liquefied chlorine, sodium or potassium hydroxide, sodium bicarbonate, and soda ash (not produced at mines). Alkalies produced by mining are classified in SIC 1474: Potash, Soda, and Borate Minerals.

NAICS Code(s)

325181 (Alkalies and Chlorine Manufacturing)

Industry Snapshot

The two primary commodities offered by the alkalies and chlorine industry are chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), together representing about 82 percent of all shipments. Soda ash, an alkali product used in glassmaking, water treatment, pulp bleaching, and detergent manufacturing, accounts for only 14 percent of shipments. Other products account for the remaining 4 percent.

Chlorine and caustic soda have consistently appeared on lists of the top 10 U.S. chemicals according to production weight. They are co-products of the same chemical process. This means that they are created at the same time and that the production of one results in the production of the other. Although there are several modern procedures used to produce chlorine and caustic soda, most rely on a technique called electrolysis. As electricity is passed through brine (a salt water solution), the brine's components, salt (sodium chloride) and water (made up of hydrogen and oxygen), recombine to form chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) in approximately equal amounts. Some hydrogen gas also results from the process.

Organic chemical manufacturers are the primary chlorine users in the United States. Some examples of chemicals produced with chlorine are ethylene dichloride, carbon tetrachloride, and methylene chloride. These and other chlorinated organic chemicals are used to make many products, including flame retardants, herbicides, solvents, refrigerants, polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe, and pigments. The second-largest chlorine user is the pulp and paper industry, which uses chlorine as a bleaching agent. Chlorine products are also used as raw ingredients in household and commercial bleaches, scouring powders, and automatic dishwashing compounds. Other chlorine uses include water treatment, sewage treatment, sanitizing, and metal extracting.

Caustic soda has a wide range of industrial applications. It is used in petroleum exploration and by water treatment facilities, tanneries, and the textile industry. It also plays a role in food processing, metal fabrication, and chemical manufacturing. Caustic soda is also used in industrial complexes to remove boiler scale.

According to U.S. Department of Commerce statistics, shipments within the alkalies and chlorine industry totaled $2.3 billion in 2001, down from $2.5 billion in 1997. Despite the recent downward trend, the industry more than doubled between 1987 and 1997. The industry became volatile during the early 2001 as the U.S. economy became sluggish, and demand for chlorine and alkalies fell off. By 2003, the industry was beginning to show signs of recovery.

Conditions within the chlorine segment of the industry affected other products. Because caustic soda is a co-product of chlorine, cuts in chlorine production lead to shortages and higher prices within the caustic soda market. Caustic soda, following an upward trend in natural gas prices, was priced between $190 to $220 per ton in April 2003. Although soda ash has been manufactured synthetically from the evaporation of brines, it is primarily produced from trona, a mined product. The last synthetic soda ash facility in the United States closed in 1986, idling 700,000 tons of capacity. Operators closed the plant because it could not produce soda ash at prices low enough to compete with the trona-reliant process. Almost half of the domestic production of soda ash is used by glassmakers.

Organization and Structure

Approximately 99 percent of the chlorine and alkali chemical manufacturers in the United States and Canada belong to the Chlorine Institute, a group founded by 10 industry leaders in 1924. Although its original purpose was to further the demand for chlorine, its focus shifted to providing the industry with supervision and direction following a destructive hurricane in 1926 that wrought havoc on Florida's water treatment facilities. Thousands of chlorine cylinders were shipped to the state to aid in restoring safe water supplies, but many could not be used because the industry had no previously adopted standardized fittings. The emergency chlorine supply sat idle until adapters and valves could be...

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