FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 22
Contact: Dick Hanneman
703/549-4648
e-mail: dick@saltinstitute.org

2007 SALT SALES JUMP 37%

Alexandria, VA (February 22)…. Sales of US dry salt jumped 37.2% in 2007 to 31.7 million tons, the Salt Institute reported today. The Salt Institute is a non-profit association representing the salt industry in the U.S. and globally.

Salt industry revenues rose 11.9% to $1.68 billion, according to the Institute’s 2007 U.S. Salt Sales report. Figures exclude transportation costs.

Highway salt sales were the second best year on record with 20.3 million tons (the record was set in 2005: 20.5 million tons were used to keep winter roads safe and passable), up sharply, 67%, over 2006, the worst year in highway sales for the past decade. Revenues for highway salt sales were $$585.7 million

Among other major markets, salt for animal nutrition grew for the third year in the past four year after rather steady declines over the past decade, increasing 7.3% to 1.627 million tons. Chemical sales reversed an historic climb, recovering 11.3% to 2.1 million tons, the most since 2004. Food salt sales were totally flat: 1,562 in 2007, 1563 in 2006. The only declining market was water softening salt which fell from 3.6 million tons to 3.5 million tons in 2007, down 2.7%

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Note: Data on U.S. salt sales is on the Institute’s website, http://www.saltinstitute.org/33.html

	Short Tons	$
Market	(000)	(000)

Food Grade	1,561.8	286,859.8
Agricultural	1,627.3	110,887.2
Highway	20,251.6	585,699.5
Chemical	2,100.2	69,092.6
Water Conditioning	3,492.9	400,996.2
Grand Totals	31,695.1	1,676,199.7