Salt exports to Japan may dip by 10%

The salt industry in India may witness nearly 10 per cent fall in the exports to Japan due to the massive earthquake that hit the world's third largest economy on Friday. Preliminary estimates worked out by the industry experts peg the fall in the exports to Japan at around 10 per cent.

India's salt exports for the current season are expected at around 2 million tonnes, of which nearly 30-35 per cent is shipped to Japan alone mainly from the Kutch region in Gujarat.

"The situation in Japan is not so good. Ports are damaged and there could be damage to the caustic plants in the country too. This may affect the exports to Japan by around 10 per cent. But this is a temporary situation the overall year for the industry may not be affected. Once, the country starts recovering from the tsunami impact, the business may resume as usual," said PN Rao, vice president, Indian Salt Manufacturers' Association (ISMA).

The industry continues to export salt to the major destinations including Indonesia, Middle East and Africa. The exports are at peak during the months of September to June. But this year, due to delayed salt production, the exports started late. "Japan has been our traditional buyer and we export nearly 6-7 lakh tonnes of salt to the country. We are hopeful for the Japanese industry to pick up pace in a short time and will not make much loss to the Indian salt exports," said an official of ISMA.

As per the data provided by ISMA the normal salt production in India is estimated to be 18 million tonnes (over 10 per cent), while the consumption is pegged at around 7.5-8 million tonnes for industrial purposes, 6.5 million tonnes for edible and 2-2.5 million tonnes for traditional exports. It may be mentioned here that Gujarat accounts for almost 15.5-16 million tonnes of normal salt produced in India every year.