Major Uses for Industrial Salt

Rock salt has been around for a while, but since this product has so many widespread uses, the industrial salt market has become more competitive over time. This motivates manufacturers and consumers alike to determine the most competitive industrial uses for salt.

Industrial salt is a broad category of salt used in various industrial applications. It includes different types of salt, such as rock salt and refined salts, which are processed to meet specific purity levels required for industrial purposes. The salt industry caters to industries like chemical manufacturing, oil drilling, pharmaceuticals, and road deicing, where industrial salt plays a critical role in processes that require large quantities of this versatile mineral.

In the oil industry, industrial salt is used to increase the density of mud and soil, which creates a safer and more efficient drilling rig. Although salt may not be used extensively in offshore drilling, enormous amounts of industrial salt are required to facilitate drilling on land. Pharmaceutical companies also use salt in the process of making capsules, as well as in the production of saline solutions, which have widespread secondary industrial uses of salt. Saline solutions are not only useful for contact solution but also for intravenous formulas. Salt use by the medical and pharmaceutical companies accounts for a large percentage of the total national industrial salt usage.

Of course, the majority of the world’s industrial salt is used to deice roads and to create a safer driving surface, not only for the public but for government use as well. Sixty to eighty percent of globally mined salt is used to improve the safety of public transit in one capacity or another, but usually to decrease the freezing point of snow and ice.

Salt is often spread on roads prior to inclement weather, allowing a surface layer of brine to provide further protection against ice.

Chemical production relies heavily on industrial salt as well, as industrial salt is used as a filler for detergents and solvents, causing the chemical to be more rapidly dissolved in water. Since salt separates many of the components required for making soap, chemical industries include large amounts of industrial salt in the process of making soap.

Solar ponds and other energy-producing facilities require large amounts of salt to maintain a necessary salinity, adding to the application of industrial salt as an energy producer.

Since salt is relatively cheap and available in large quantities in South America and Africa, rock salt and industrial salt come into increasing demand with the increased availability of solar energy.

Clearly, industrial salt has widespread application, which means increased demand over time. Although industrial salt may not be the world’s rarest resource, its high demand for safety and manufacturing purposes means that salt prices will continue to fluctuate for the foreseeable future. In order to ensure a flowing salt pipeline, most industrial salt consumers are considering salt from a variety of global sources.