Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan needs to produce soda ash in sufficient quantities to meet its own requirements and export the excess produce. Despite having extensive natural deposits of soda ash, Pakistan is still lagging behind in its extraction and processing. So, its large-scale and qualitative production is direly needed to not only cut the import bill but also export the excess quantity. According to the updated records till May 28, 2023, of a data-providing agency, 80 active importers in Pakistan imported 254 shipments of soda ash under different categories during this year from 122 different destinations, including China, Iran, Turkey, etc, thus necessitating the need to set up soda ash manufacturing units at home. Talking about setting up soda ash production units, Muhammad Yaqub Shah, a member of the Sectoral Council for Marble, Granite, and Minerals, Ministry of Finance, told WealthPK that the entire salt range of Pakistan, as well as trans-Indus river stretching right from Banda Dawood Shah in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Kala Baghand Khewra in Punjab province, possessed an unfathomable ocean of salt.

“Best quality fortified pink salt found in these salt deposits can produce quality products, including soda ash. Only extraction units need to be set up.” He pointed out that soda ash was extracted by converting salt/sodium carbonate into sodium hydroxide. “Usually, this process is done through any of the four regular ways – the Solvay process, the Leblanc process, the Dual process, and the electrolytic process.” Yaqub Shah said in salt production, Pakistan ranked second in the world and first in Asia. “The country holds more than 800 years old salt mines holding about 10 billion tonnes of salt deposits. To encourage the soda ash industry in the country, the government should offer attractive incentives to investors. Public-private partnerships can also be launched in this regard,” he said.

Yaqub Shah, who is also the former managing director of Pakistan Minerals Development Corporation and is the principal geologist in an Islamabad-based mining company, said soda ash was used for a variety of domestic and industrial purposes like rechargeable batteries, treatment of water, acidity neutralisation, corrosion elimination, paper recycling, metallurgical processes, as water softening agent, soaps, powdered detergents, glass, textile units, cosmetics, pharmaceutics, etc. He added that dense food-grade soda was used to produce baking soda. Pakistan can get its share of the international market by establishing soda ash production plants at both large and small scale. It will not only cut the cost of local products (where the soda ash is used), but will also create job opportunities.

Credit: INP-WealthPk