Turkish firms invest in US soda ash business

The Turkish soda ash (sodium carbonate) makers Şişecam and Ciner Group say they will invest a combined $4 billion in the US soda ash industry. Ciner entered the US market in 2015, when it purchased control of OCI Chemical, a producer in Green River, Wyoming. In 2019 the two firms began developing a soda ash project, called Pacific, in Wyoming. In the new deal, Şişecam will increase its ownership in both the Wyoming plant and the Pacific project to 60%. It will also buy a 60% stake in another Wyoming project, Atlantic. In total, the partners say, the investment will triple their output in Wyoming to 7.5 million metric tons per year by 2027.