Caustic Soda Price | Current and Historical
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See 6 monthly Caustic Soda price assessments covering 6 locations: United States, South America, Europe, China, Middle East and Africa. Also check Caustic Soda price history since 2007. The chart below is a sample of Intratec Primary Commodity Prices - subscribe now and gain access to current prices of 226 commodities, including Caustic Soda.
Data Legend. The Caustic Soda price chart shows the prices in USA Dollar per metric ton (USD/mt) as follows:
- US: Caustic Soda, United States, transaction, fob
- SAM: Caustic Soda, South America, transaction, cif, Brazil
- EUR: Caustic Soda, Europe, transaction, cif, Netherlands
- CN: Caustic Soda, 32% solution, China, spot, exw, Central China, dry basis
- MDE: Caustic Soda, Middle East, transaction, cif, Saudi Arabia
- AFR: Caustic Soda, Africa, transaction, cif, South Africa
Data Use. Caustic Soda prices are provided as an annual subscription where subscribers have access to reliable pricing data of 226 commodities worldwide. To better understand data provided by Intratec Primary Commodity Prices, check the following documents: Price Assessment Basis , Commodities Specifications , Methodology , User Guide , and Glossary .
Intratec Primary Commodity Prices
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Price Dynamics. The Caustic Soda price in United States decreased during December 2018 to 449 USD per metric ton, which represents a slight decline of 4% compared to the previous month’s value. On a year-over-year basis, Caustic Soda prices in United States decreased significantly by 29%. Meanwhile, in Netherlands, the average price of Caustic Soda amounted to 260 USD per metric ton, from 232 USD per metric ton one year earlier. On a month-over-month basis, the Caustic Soda price in Netherlands is 9% higher than the price one month before.
The price of Caustic Soda in China declined throughout December 2018, reaching 427 USD per metric ton. The price in China is 6% lower than the average price in the previous month and 21% lower than the average price one year before. In contrast, Caustic Soda prices in Saudi Arabia decreased significantly during December 2018, reaching 354 USD per metric ton, which means a decline of 10% from the previous month’s price and a decline of 41% from the previous year’s price.
The Caustic Soda prices in Brazil experienced a significant decline of 105 USD per metric ton from the prior month's price, to 472 USD per metric ton. Such price movement in Brazil meant a decrease of 18% on a monthly basis and a decrease of 24% on a yearly basis. On the other hand, in December 2018, the Caustic Soda price in South Africa witnessed a decline of 71 USD per metric ton when compared against the previous month's price, to 396 USD per metric ton. The December 2018 price in South Africa is 32% lower than the price one year before.
About Caustic Soda. Sodium Hydroxide (a.k.a. Caustic Soda, NaOH, Lye) is a major inorganic compound, used in several industries. It is a white, translucent crystalline solid. It is commonly referred to as caustic soda due to its corrosive action on many substances - it decomposes proteins at room temperature and may cause chemical burns to human bodies. Even though it does not occur in nature, sodium hydroxide has been manufactured at a large scale for many years from readily obtainable raw materials and is used in numerous industrial processes.
Most of the caustic soda produced on a commercial scale is based on the electrolysis of aqueous sodium chloride (brine), which also generates chlorine and hydrogen as co-products (chlor-alkali processes). The electrolytic production of caustic soda can be accomplished through three basic processes: diaphragm cell, mercury cell, and membrane cell processes, which differ from each other mainly according to how the anode is kept separate from the cathode. As the membrane cell process has ecological advantages over the mercury process and has become the most economically advantageous option in most cases, almost all plants constructed in the past years are based on membrane cell technology.
Pure Sodium Hydroxide has a high affinity for water and may form hydrates according to the concentration. Therefore, storage and transportation demand some caution - melting points of some hydrates formed may be greater than 0 °C, in such a way that insulation or heating may be necessary. Additional care is required because, in the presence of moisture, Sodium Hydroxide readily reacts with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form sodium carbonate. Shipment may be done in steel drums up to 50% maximum concentration. If at higher concentrations, pure nickel drums are required due to corrosion effects. Liquid caustic is shipped in tank trucks, tank cars, and barges. Typical tank trucks, constructed from stainless steel without insulation or heating coils, carry 150,000 liters or 11.3 tons of caustic soda. Tank cars, usually insulated and equipped with heating coils, are made of nickel clad steel or lined steel. Barges carrying 50% caustic have capacities ranging from 1,100 to 2,200 tons. Solid sodium hydroxide is usually packed in 25- to 50-kg hermetically sealed polyethylene sacks. For transport, the sacks are stacked on wooden palettes and shrink wrapped in polyethylene. Caustic soda prills are also carried in 50- or 200-kg steel drums, loose in 1,000-kg-capacity steel or flexible containers, or in transportable hoppers.
Sodium Hydroxide is primarily produced by electrolysis of sodium chloride, which generates chlorine as co-product. It may also be a by-product from the lime-soda process, which produces mainly calcium carbonate from lime and sodium carbonate. Raw materials and the respective production processes employed in the manufacturing of Caustic Soda are listed below.
- Sodium chloride (electrolysis, coproduced with chlorine)
The uses and applications of Caustic Soda may vary according to its specification. The main forms of Caustic Soda are commercial (50 wt% solution); granulated (60% and 75% Na2O); rayon (low in iron, copper, and manganese) grade; Food Chemical Codex (FCC) grade; United States Pharmacopeia (USP, 99% minimum purity) grade; flakes; prills; tablets; cast blocks; and beads.
In pulp and paper industry, for instance, Sodium Hydroxide is used to remove lignin and hemicellulose in the Kraft pulping process. Since Caustic Soda solution is highly alkaline, it is widely used to neutralize acid solutions forming sodium salts. Sodium Hydroxide may also react with metals (Al, Zn, Sn) and respective oxides to form anions such as AlO2-, ZnO22-, SnO23-. Reaction of Al2O3 with Sodium Hydroxide is a step of the extraction of alumina from bauxite
