China Says Pass The Salt as German Producer Eyes Solar Expansion
- Biggest salt producer weighing $250 million Australia project
- Asia may account for half of salt demand by 2018, K+S says
Rio Tinto's Dampier salt flats.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China’s chemical producers are poised to boost demand for one of the world’s most unheralded commodity exports -- salt, and that’s luring the biggest producer to Australia.
Germany’s K+S AG is planning a potential A$350 million ($235 million) investment to build a solar salt facility near Onslow, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, after purchasing mining licenses. It’s forecasting that nearby markets in Asia will account for half of global trade by 2018 from about 42 percent in 2012.