Salt shortage
January 6, 2010
The harsh winter which has taken hold of Germany in recent weeks has nearly exhausted reserves of road salt. Even with salt mines working at full capacity, local government entities have to wait for their orders to be filled as winter services to the country's autobahn system and long-distance roads receive salt shipments on a priority basis. Road salt has also become scarce on the commercial market.
Road salt accounts for about 35 percent of the production of Germany's largest salt manufacturer, Hanover-based Esco. Workers at the company's three domestic salt mines are working around the clock in three shifts to meet demand.
Esco spokesman Holger Bekemeier said high demand has caused delayed shipments despite careful planning for winter.
"Generally speaking, winter services are very important to our business, and each year we painstakingly prepare for a harsh winter," he told Deutsche Welle.
"That is to say, we start stocking during the summer. At the moment we're faced with exceptional demands… our mines are producing at 100 percent capacity."
German winters tricky
Dieter Krueger, spokesman for the Association of Potash and Salt Industry, said demand for road salt in Germany fluctuates greatly from year to year. In 1992, 600,000 metric tons of road salt were delivered nationwide, as compared to 3.5 million in 2005.
"We have extreme peaks, and it can be difficult to know exactly how much salt to produce and how much salt to hold in reserve," he told Deutsche Welle.
"I think if the winter continues this way, then the German salt industry will be running at full capacity. Local governments will have to find ways to bridge shortages in delivery."
In Wiesbaden, the state capital of Hessen, road salt reserves have been vanishing rapidly.
"We have already used more than in the entire winter of 2007/2008," said Frank Fischer, spokesman for the city agency responsible for winter services.
By the end of December, workers in Wiesbaden had already spread 1,078 metric tons of salt and 177,000 liters of brine. Last winter a total of 2,068 metric tons of salt and 427,050 liters of brine were used by Feburary of 2009.
Local production the norm
Michael Wudonig, a spokesman for the Kassel-based K+S Group, Esco's parent company, said the possible sources of road salt are limited to mines in Germany.
"Salt is typically a regional business, where one tries to get it where the delivery costs are the least and where one is relatively close to production sites and distributors," he said. "Demand is extremely high at the moment."
Wudonig said it was too early to know the exact effect surging demand will have on profits for K+S and Esco.
However, Esco spokesman Bekemeier predicted this winter would result in a windfall for his company.
"This is absolutely good for our business," he said. "The offset is as high as is possible. An enormously high demand is always good for business."
Spokespeople for two other major German road salt producers, Munich-based Wacker Chemie AG and Heilbronn-based Suedsalz were not available for comment on Wednesday due to a public holiday.
Author: Gerhard Schneibel
Editor: Sam Edmonds