Soda Ash

60% of our soda ash is sold to the glass industry in South Africa. It is used as a fluxing agent as it lowers the melting temperature of the raw material pure silica, thus reducing energy requirements.

Botash sells around 20% of its soda ash to the chemical industry. Both dense and light soda ash are used in chemical reactions to produce inorganic or organic compounds that are in turn used in a range of different applications.

2% of soda ash is sold to the detergent industry.
Light soda ash is used in powdered, paste and soap detergents where it acts as a builder. Additionally, it acts as a water softener and has a cleaning function.

11% of soda ash is sold to metallurgical applications or steel & vanadium. In the vanadium sector, soda ash is used for vanadium ore beneficiation. In steel works, it is used as a flux, and to reduce limestone and coke consumption in blast furnaces. It is also used to reduce the phosphorous and sulphur content in cast iron which is used to produce high quality steel.