Salt Producers of the World: The Complete List of Salt Companies by Country (2026)

Global salt production at a glance (2025)

According to the US Geological Survey (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026), world salt production reached an estimated 270 million tonnes in 2025, slightly below the 275 million tonnes of 2024. Three countries - China, the United States and India - account for almost half of global output. Europe is the second-largest producing region after Asia, with roughly 50 million tonnes a year according to EuSalt, the European salt producers' association.

Salt production by country (USGS, million tonnes)

Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, published February 2026; 2025 figures are estimates. Belgium does not appear in the table: the country has no salt deposits, and Belgian salt companies such as ZOUTMAN process crude sea salt from solar saltworks abroad (see the methodology note below).

What all that salt is used for

Most salt never reaches a kitchen. In the United States the chemical industry - chiefly chlorine, caustic soda and soda ash production - takes about 42% of all salt sold, and highway de-icing another 37%; food processing, water treatment, agriculture and other industrial uses share the remainder (USGS 2026). European sea salt has a very different profile: 29% goes to food, 22% to de-icing, 13% to agriculture, 12% to retail, 8% to chlor-alkali and 7% to water treatment (EuSalt sea salt brochure, 2023 data).

Four kinds of salt producer: rock, vacuum, solar and refiners

"Salt producer" covers four quite different kinds of company. Knowing which type you are dealing with tells you a lot about the purity, grain and typical uses of the salt they sell.

1. Rock salt miners

Rock salt (halite) is mined underground from ancient evaporite deposits, crushed and screened. It is the workhorse of de-icing and many industrial applications. Examples: Compass Minerals' Goderich mine in Canada (the world's largest underground salt mine), K+S's Bernburg and Borth mines in Germany, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke's Heilbronn mine, Compass Minerals' Winsford mine in England, Groupe Salins' Varangéville mine in France and the Khewra mine in Pakistan.

2. Solution miners and vacuum salt producers

Water is injected into a salt deposit and the resulting brine is pumped to the surface. Chlor-alkali and soda-ash plants often use this brine directly. Alternatively the brine is crystallised in multiple-effect vacuum evaporators to give vacuum salt - the purest industrial salt (typically 99.9% NaCl) and the basis for most table salt, water-softening salt and pharmaceutical salt in north-western Europe. Examples: Nobian, K+S, British Salt, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke, Salinen Austria, Schweizer Salinen, Qemetica, Cargill and Morton Salt.

3. Solar salt producers: sea salt and lake salt

Seawater or natural lake brine is concentrated by sun and wind in a sequence of shallow ponds until salt crystallises and is harvested. This is how most of the salt in Australia, Mexico, India, Brazil, Turkey, Egypt and the Mediterranean is made, and it is the source of the sea salt that ZOUTMAN processes. Examples: Exportadora de Sal (Mexico), Dampier Salt and Mitsui's Shark Bay Salt (Australia), Groupe Salins (France, Spain, Italy), Hellenic Saltworks (Greece), Koyuncu (Turkey), Walvis Bay Salt (Namibia) and Salinor (Brazil). Sea salt represents about 10% of European salt production - roughly 3.4 million tonnes from some 48 companies (EuSalt).

4. Refiners and processors

Refiners buy crude solar or rock salt and wash, dry, sieve, iodise, compact (into tablets or blocks) and pack it for food, water softening, feed, pharma or de-icing markets. In countries without salt deposits - Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Nigeria, much of Scandinavia - they are the salt industry. Examples: ZOUTMAN (Belgium), Cerebos (South Africa), NASCON/Dangote Salt (Nigeria), Hanju (South Korea), Taiyen (Taiwan) and Peacock Salt (Scotland).

The world's largest salt companies

No single company dominates the salt market, but a dozen groups account for a large share of the world's traded salt. The table ranks them by scale and reach, based on company reports and filings.

Other large regional players include Qemetica (Poland, salt business being sold to K+S), Nirma and Archean Chemical Industries (India), Koyuncu and Mutlucan (Turkey), Araltuz (Kazakhstan), Hellenic Saltworks (Greece), Italkali (Italy), Walvis Bay Salt (Namibia), Salinor (Brazil) and Quimpac (Peru). All are covered in the regional lists below.

Salt producers in Europe

Europe produces roughly 50 million tonnes of salt a year. About 90% comes from rock-salt mines and solution-mined vacuum salt in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, France and the United Kingdom; about 10% is sea salt from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts (EuSalt). Most of the companies below are members of EuSalt, whose members represent over 80% of European production.

Belgium

• ZOUTMAN - Roeselare and North Sea Port Ghent. Independent family company founded in 1997 that produces and processes sea salt: crude solar sea salt is washed, dried, sieved and packed for food (MARSEL®), water softening (SOFT-SEL®), de-icing, agriculture and swimming pools; 300,000 to 450,000 tonnes shipped each year to more than 60 countries. Belgium has no salt deposits of its own, so Belgian producers work with crude sea salt harvested in solar saltworks abroad. zoutman.com

Netherlands

• Nobian - Amersfoort; owned by Carlyle and GIC. Europe's leading producer of high-purity vacuum salt (around 6 million tonnes a year), formerly AkzoNobel Salt and Nouryon; solution mining and plants at Delfzijl and Hengelo, plus Frankfurt (Germany) and Mariager (Denmark). nobian.com
• Frisia Zout (K+S) - Harlingen. Vacuum salt from a brine field under the Wadden Sea; part of K+S's European salt business. kpluss.com
• JOZO, NEZO, Suprasel and Sanal - the former AkzoNobel consumer and specialty salt brands have belonged to France's Groupe Salins since 2021. salins.com

Germany

• K+S (formerly esco - european salt company) - Kassel. Europe's largest salt producer, with rock-salt mines and vacuum-salt plants at Bernburg, Borth, Braunschweig-Lüneburg and Grasleben, plus Harlingen (Netherlands) and Dombasle (France); de-icing, industrial, food and pharmaceutical salt. In June 2026 K+S agreed to buy Qemetica's evaporated-salt plants at Staßfurt and Janikowo, with closing expected in early 2027. kpluss.com
• Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke (SWS) - Heilbronn. Operates the Heilbronn mine, the largest rock-salt mine in Western Europe, and evaporated-salt works at Bad Friedrichshall, Bad Reichenhall (Bad Reichenhaller brand) and Berchtesgaden; about 1,100 employees. salzwerke.de
• Nobian Germany - Frankfurt-Höchst vacuum-salt plant (see Netherlands). nobian.com
• Qemetica Salz Deutschland - Staßfurt. Evaporated salt for water softening and food; being acquired by K+S. qemetica.com

France

• Groupe Salins (Compagnie des Salins du Midi et des Salines de l'Est) - Clichy. France's salt leader, with about 4 million tonnes of capacity across 15 sites: Camargue sea salt at Aigues-Mortes and Salin-de-Giraud, the Varangéville rock-salt mine in Lorraine and evaporated salt at Dax and Einville; brand La Baleine. Also owns the Torrevieja saltworks (Spain), Compagnia Italiana Sali (Italy) and COTUSAL (Tunisia). salins.com
• esco France / K+S France - Dombasle-sur-Meurthe. Around 200,000 tonnes a year of vacuum salt, including pharmaceutical grades and AXAL water-softening tablets; owner of the Cérébos table-salt brand. kpluss.com
• Les Salines de Guérande - Le Guérandais - Guérande. Cooperative of paludiers producing hand-harvested grey sea salt and fleur de sel. leguerandais.fr
• Coopérative des Sauniers de l'Île de Ré - Ars-en-Ré. Island cooperative behind the protected (PGI) Sel and Fleur de sel de l'Île de Ré.

United Kingdom and Ireland

• Compass Minerals UK - Winsford, Cheshire. Britain's largest and oldest working rock-salt mine, supplying de-icing salt; part of Compass Minerals (USA). compassminerals.com/uk
• British Salt (Tata Chemicals Europe) - Middlewich, Cheshire. The UK's leading vacuum-salt producer, wholly owned by India's Tata Chemicals since 2010. tatachemicalseurope.com
• Irish Salt Mining & Exploration - Kilroot, Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland's only salt mine, producing around 500,000 tonnes of de-icing rock salt a year. irishsaltmining.com
• Maldon Salt - Maldon, Essex. Family-owned maker of pyramid-shaped flaky sea salt since 1882. maldonsalt.com
• Cornish Sea Salt Co. - Cornwall. Sea salt harvested from Cornish seawater since 2008. cornishseasalt.co.uk
• Halen Môn - Anglesey Sea Salt - Anglesey, Wales. PDO-protected sea salt from the Menai Strait. halenmon.com
• Peacock Salt - Ayr, Scotland. Salt processor and distributor rather than a primary producer. peacocksalt.com
• Republic of Ireland - no industrial salt production; artisan sea-salt makers include Achill Island Sea Salt and Oriel Sea Salt.

Spain and Portugal

• Salinas de Torrevieja (Groupe Salins) - Torrevieja, Alicante. One of Europe's largest solar saltworks, harvesting the Torrevieja and La Mata lagoons (around 500,000 tonnes expected in 2026) for de-icing, industrial and food salt. salins.com
• Infosa - Industrias de la Sal - Salinas de la Trinidad, Ebro Delta (Tarragona). Sea salt producer harvesting the Trinidad salt pans in the Ebro Delta nature park. infosa.com
• ICL Iberia - Súria, Catalonia. Potash miner that produces vacuum salt from its mine brine. icliberia.com
• Salinera Española - Ibiza. Harvests 50,000 to 65,000 tonnes of sea salt a year from the historic Ses Salines pans on Ibiza and Formentera.
• Portugal - salt production is mostly traditional solar sea salt and flor de sal from the Aveiro lagoon, Figueira da Foz and the Algarve (Castro Marim, Tavira); there is no large industrial producer.

Italy

• Italkali - Palermo. Sicily's rock-salt miner, with the Petralia, Racalmuto and Realmonte mines producing over 1 million tonnes a year and a shipping terminal at Porto Empedocle. italkali.com
• Compagnia Italiana Sali (Groupe Salins) - Margherita di Savoia, Puglia. Operates Margherita di Savoia, one of the largest sea-salt works in Europe (around 700,000 tonnes), and Sant'Antioco in Sardinia; took over the former Atisale concessions in 2019. salins.com
• Sosalt - Trapani. The last large Italian-owned sea-salt producer, working the historic Trapani and Paceco salt pans. sosalt.it

Switzerland and Austria

• Schweizer Salinen / Salines Suisses - Pratteln. Switzerland's sole salt producer, owned by the cantons; vacuum salt from the Schweizerhalle, Riburg and Bex salines (JuraSel, Sel des Alpes). Formed in 2014 from the merger of Rheinsalinen and Saline de Bex. salz.ch
• Salinen Austria - Ebensee. Alpine brine evaporated into salt under the Bad Ischler brand, with distribution subsidiaries across Central Europe. salinen.com

Poland

• Qemetica (formerly Ciech) - Janikowo / Solino - Warsaw. Solution-mined evaporated salt at Janikowo using brine from Inowrocław; the salt business is being sold to K+S (agreed June 2026, closing expected early 2027). qemetica.com
• Kopalnia Soli "Kłodawa" - Kłodawa. Poland's main working rock-salt mine and the source of its natural pink rock salt for food, feed, de-icing and industry. sol-klodawa.com.pl
• Kopalnia Soli "Wieliczka" - Wieliczka. UNESCO World Heritage mine that is now primarily a visitor attraction, still producing small quantities of evaporated salt from brine. kopalnia.pl

Romania

• Salrom - Societatea Națională a Sării - Bucharest. State salt company operating rock-salt mines at Ocnele Mari, Slănic Prahova, Ocna Dej, Târgu Ocna, Cacica and Ocna Mureș; the Praid mine has been out of operation since flooding in May 2025. salrom.ro

Greece

• Hellenic Saltworks - Athens. State-controlled sea-salt company with seven active solar saltworks (including Messolonghi), around 230,000 tonnes of annual capacity and more than 90% of Greek production; a majority stake is being privatised in 2025-2026. saltworks.gr
• Dadakarides Salt - northern Greece. Salt refiner and packer.
• Kalas - Greek brand of iodised sea salt. kalas.gr

Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria

• Solana Pag, Solana Nin and Solana Ston - Croatia's three Adriatic solar saltworks; Pag is the largest Croatian producer, Nin and Ston are historic artisan pans.
• Soline - Piranske Soline - Slovenia. Traditional sea salt and fleur de sel from the Sečovlje and Strunjan salt pans.
• Solana Tuzla - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historic vacuum-salt works producing food salt and water-softening tablets. solana.ba
• Bulgaria - most of the 2.7 million tonnes reported by USGS is solution-mined brine from the Mirovo deposit near Provadia that feeds the Devnya soda-ash industry; sea salt comes from the Burgas and Pomorie salt pans.

Denmark and Iceland

• Nobian Mariager (formerly Dansk Salt) - Mariager, Denmark. Solution-mined vacuum salt, part of Nobian. nobian.com
• Læsø Salt - Læsø, Denmark. Artisan boiled sea salt made the medieval way.
• Saltverk - Westfjords, Iceland. Flaky sea salt evaporated with geothermal energy. saltverk.com

Belarus, Ukraine and Russia

• Mozyrsalt - Mozyr, Belarus. State-owned vacuum-salt producer; placed on Poland's sanctions list in 2024. mozyrsalt.by
• Artemsil (Artyomsol) - Soledar, Ukraine. Formerly the source of about 70% of Ukraine's salt from the Soledar rock-salt mines; production halted in June 2022 and the site lies in occupied territory.
• Drohobych Saltworks - Drohobych, Ukraine. Europe's oldest continuously operating saltworks, boiling brine for more than 600 years; state-owned and slated for privatisation. Newer Ukrainian producers include Kation Invest (Tereblia rock salt, Zakarpattia) and the Chornomorsk salt plant near Odesa.
• Russol - Russia's largest salt group: Iletsk rock salt, Baskunchak lake salt and Usolye-Sibirskoye vacuum salt.
• Tyretsky Salt Mine - Irkutsk region, Russia. Siberian rock-salt mine producing roughly 500,000 tonnes a year.

Salt producers in Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia

Turkey is the world's eighth-largest salt producer (8.3 million tonnes in 2025, USGS), and Lake Tuz alone supplies around 70% of the country's salt. Further east, the Dead Sea, the Gulf coast and the Aral region host some of the region's biggest operations.

Turkey

• Koyuncu Tuz (Koyuncu Group) - Konya. Turkey's largest salt producer, harvesting Lake Tuz at the Kaldırım saltworks and refining around 400,000 tonnes a year; exports to more than 50 countries. koyuncusalt.com
• Mutlucan Tuz - Ankara. Lake salt from Şereflikoçhisar on Lake Tuz and rock salt from Mucur (Kırşehir); brands Mutlucan, Parla and Ahu. mutlucantuz.com.tr
• Salina Tuz - branded table-salt processor founded in 1983. salina.com.tr
• Saray Tuz - natural and refined salt producer. saraytuz.com
• Other Lake Tuz and rock-salt producers include Billur Tuz, Cihanbeyli Tuz, Estuz and Yıldırım Tuz.

Israel and Jordan

• Salt of the Earth (formerly Israel Salt Industries) - Atlit, Israel. Family-owned since 1922; solar sea salt from Eilat on the Red Sea and Atlit on the Mediterranean. salt.co.il
• ICL Dead Sea Works - Sdom, Israel. Dead Sea minerals producer (potash, bromine, magnesium); salt is a by-product. icl-group.com
• Arab Potash Company - Ghor Al Safi, Jordan. Dead Sea potash producer whose Numeira subsidiary makes Dead Sea salts and mud. arabpotash.com

Gulf states and Iran

• Sama Salt Production Company - Abu Dhabi, UAE. Solar sea salt producer with more than 250,000 tonnes a year and plans to exceed 2 million tonnes; industrial, drilling and feed grades. samasalt.com
• Saudi Arabia - produced an estimated 2.4 million tonnes in 2025 (USGS), largely solar salt from coastal and inland works.
• Iran - around 4.2 million tonnes a year (USGS), mainly rock salt from the Garmsar and Semnan deposits; international trade is constrained by sanctions.

Kazakhstan

• Araltuz - Aral district, Kyzylorda region. Central Asia's largest lake-salt producer, harvesting Lake Zhaksykylysh (reserves of 47 million tonnes) for about 850,000 tonnes a year; a 120,000-tonne vacuum-salt plant is due in 2027. araltuz.kz

Salt producers in Asia-Pacific

Asia-Pacific is the engine room of world salt: China, India and Australia together produce close to 100 million tonnes a year, while Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia are among the world's biggest importers of industrial salt.

China

• China National Salt Industry Group (China Salt, CNSG) - Beijing. State-owned salt group with subsidiaries across the country; generally regarded as the world's largest salt company by volume. chinasalt.com.cn
• Jiangsu Suyan Jingshen - Jiangsu. Shanghai-listed producer of vacuum salt and soda ash, part of Jiangsu Salt Industry Group.
• Shandong Haihua - Weifang, Shandong. Listed brine-chemicals group producing salt, soda ash and bromine from the Weifang brine fields.
• Note: Chinese national statistics report far higher salt output than the 56 million tonnes recorded by USGS, partly because they include brine consumed directly by the chemical industry.

India

• Tata Chemicals - Mumbai. India's largest branded salt maker (Tata Salt); the Mithapur complex in Gujarat produces about 1.6 million tonnes a year, and a 210,000-tonne vacuum-salt plant is planned in Tamil Nadu. Owner of British Salt in the UK. tatachemicals.com
• Archean Chemical Industries - Chennai. Listed marine-chemicals group harvesting solar salt and bromine in the Rann of Kutch; India's leading industrial-salt exporter. archeanchemicals.com
• Nirma - Ahmedabad. Private conglomerate with large solar salt works in Gujarat supplying its soda-ash plants and the Shudh edible-salt brand. nirma.co.in
• GHCL - soda-ash producer with captive solar salt works in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and the i-FLO retail salt brand. ghcl.co.in
• Dev Salt - Morbi, Gujarat. 3,700-hectare solar salt works producing around 1.2 million tonnes of industrial salt and bromine a year for the chlor-alkali industry. devsalt.com
• Krishna Salts - Gujarat and Odisha. Solar salt works and six refineries producing edible and industrial salt for export. krishnasalts.com
• Hindustan Salts / Sambhar Salts - Jaipur. Government-owned producer at Sambhar Lake, Rajasthan, now small in scale. indiansalt.com
• Chowgule - Goa. Industrial solar-salt division of the Chowgule group. chowgule.co.in
• Ahir Salt Industries - Kutch. Solar-powered salt works exporting food-grade salt worldwide. ahirsalt.com
• Saboo Sodium Chloro (Surya Salt) - Jaipur. The largest salt refinery in northern India (processor). suryasalt.com

Pakistan

• Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) - Islamabad. State miner of Khewra, the world's second-largest salt mine, plus the Warcha and Kalabagh mines; "Khewra Pink Rock Salt" has had geographical-indication status since 2022. Pakistan exported about 148,000 tonnes of pink salt in fiscal 2026. pmdc.gov.pk
• Hub-Pak Salt Refinery - Karachi. Pakistan's leading sea-salt refiner and exporter, with seven plants near Karachi and customers in more than 30 countries. hubpak.com

Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

• Japan - has no salt deposits and imports most of its roughly 8 million tonnes of annual demand, mainly from Mexico and Australia; domestic producers make refined salt by concentrating seawater with ion-exchange membranes, under the oversight of the Salt Industry Center of Japan.
• Hanju Corporation - Ulsan, South Korea. South Korea's only refined-salt manufacturer. Traditional solar sea salt comes from the Shinan islands in the south-west.
• Taiyen Biotech (Taiwan Salt Industrial Corporation) - Tainan, Taiwan. Former state salt monopoly, now a listed consumer-goods group that still refines imported salt. tybio.com.tw

South-East Asia

• PT Garam - Indonesia's state salt company (around 500,000 tonnes a year), planning a 1-million-tonne industrial-salt plant with Pertamina at Balikpapan; Indonesia still imports around 64% of its salt. ptgaram.com
• Cheetham Garam Indonesia - Indonesian arm of CK Life Sciences' salt group (see Australia).
• Pimai Salt - Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. Thailand's main producer, solution-mining rock salt on the Khorat Plateau.
• Visalco (Vietnam Salt Company) - Vietnam, where most salt is still harvested in small coastal solar pans.

Australia and New Zealand

• Dampier Salt - Rio Tinto 68%, Marubeni 22%, Sojitz 10%. Solar sea salt from Dampier and Port Hedland in the Pilbara; one of the world's largest seaborne salt exporters. Lake MacLeod (1.5 million tonnes a year) was sold to Leichhardt Industrials in December 2024. riotinto.com
• Mitsui & Co. - Shark Bay Salt and Onslow Salt - Western Australia. Food-grade solar salt from Useless Loop (Shark Bay) and 2.5 million tonnes a year of industrial salt from Onslow, mainly for Asian markets. mitsui.com
• Leichhardt Industrials Group - owner of the Lake MacLeod solar salt and gypsum operation since 2024 and developer of the Eramurra salt project.
• Cheetham Salt (CK Life Sciences) - founded 1888; Australia's largest producer of salt products, with lake and sea-salt works and refineries across the country; sister companies Dominion Salt (New Zealand) and Cheetham Garam Indonesia. cheethamsalt.com.au
• BCI Minerals - Mardie Salt & Potash - Pilbara. New large-scale solar saltworks under construction, with first salt exports expected in late 2026. bciminerals.com.au
• WA Salt Group - Western Australian lake-salt producer (Lake Deborah).
• Dominion Salt - Lake Grassmere, Marlborough, New Zealand. New Zealand's only salt producer, with solar harvesting at Lake Grassmere and a refinery at Mount Maunganui; part of CK Life Sciences' salt group. dominionsalt.co.nz

Salt producers in Africa

Africa's salt output is led by Egypt (2.3 million tonnes, USGS 2026), which has become the continent's largest exporter and a supplier of road salt to North America. Large solar saltworks also operate in Namibia, Tunisia, Senegal and Botswana, while Nigeria's industry is built on refining imported salt.

Egypt

• El Nasr Salines Company - Alexandria. State-owned sea-salt producer with works at El Max and Borg El Arab near Alexandria and at El Arish in North Sinai.
• EMISAL - Egyptian Salts & Minerals Company - Fayoum. Produces salt and sodium sulphate from the brine of Lake Qarun.
• Egyptian Company for Salt Refining (Egypt Salt) - 10th of Ramadan City. Egypt's main private refiner and exporter, drawing on salines in North Sinai, Damietta and Siwa. Egyptian salt exports reached a record of around US$77 million in the first ten months of 2025.

Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco

• COTUSAL - Compagnie Générale des Salines de Tunisie - Tunis. Tunisia's dominant sea-salt producer (Sfax-Thyna, Sahline, Sousse, Zarzis), majority-owned by Groupe Salins; about two-thirds of revenue comes from exports.
• ENASEL - Entreprise Nationale du Sel - Constantine, Algeria. State salt company mining rock salt at El Outaya and harvesting the country's salt lakes.
• Société de Sel de Mohammedia (Delta Holding) - Mohammedia, Morocco. Morocco's largest salt producer, with 1 million tonnes of rock-salt capacity and up to 700,000 tonnes a year exported for de-icing to Europe and North America.

West Africa

• Les Salins du Sine Saloum - Kaolack, Senegal. West Africa's leading sea-salt exporter, supplying Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea; Senegalese-owned since privatisation.
• Electrochem Ghana (McDan Group) - Ada Songor lagoon, Ghana. Solar saltworks under development since 2022 with a target of more than 2 million tonnes a year, which would make it the largest in West Africa.
• NASCON Allied Industries (Dangote Salt) - Lagos, Nigeria. Nigeria's leading salt refiner and distributor, processing imported raw salt at Apapa and Port Harcourt; listed on the Nigerian Exchange. nascon.dangote.com

East Africa

• Krystalline Salt - Gongoni and Marereni, Kilifi County, Kenya. Kenya's largest solar salt producer, with around 360,000 tonnes of annual capacity.
• Kensalt - Mombasa, Kenya. Solar salt works at Magarini and a refinery at Changamwe; around 270,000 tonnes of capacity.

Southern Africa

• Walvis Bay Salt Holdings (BUD Group) - Walvis Bay, Namibia. Sub-Saharan Africa's largest solar saltworks, producing around 1 million tonnes a year, most of it exported to Africa, Europe and the Americas.
• Salt Company Swakopmund - Swakopmund, Namibia. Solar salt producer with roughly 120,000 tonnes a year.
• Botswana Ash (Botash) - Sua Pan, Botswana. Brine operation producing soda ash and around 450,000 tonnes of salt a year, mostly for South Africa; 50% owned by the Botswana government. botash.bw
• Cerebos (BUD Group) - Johannesburg, South Africa. South Africa's retail salt leader, refining Namibian solar salt into vacuum-dried table salt. South Africa imports more than half of its salt, mainly from Namibia and Botswana. cerebos.co.za
• Oryx Desert Salt - Cape Town, South Africa. Gourmet brand of sun-dried salt from an underground brine lake in the Kalahari. oryxdesertsalt.com
• Marina Sea Salt - Velddrif, Western Cape. Small West Coast sea-salt producer.

Salt producers in North America

The United States is the world's second-largest salt producer (40 million tonnes from 25 companies and 60 plants in 2025, USGS) but also its largest importer: 19 million tonnes a year, mainly from Mexico, Chile, Canada and Egypt. Canada (13 million tonnes) and Mexico (7 million tonnes) complete a tightly integrated North American market. Ownership is concentrated in three groups: Stone Canyon's Morton Salt, Compass Minerals and Cargill.

United States

• Morton Salt (SCIH Salt Holdings) - Overland Park, Kansas. America's best-known salt brand, with 12 rock-salt and 11 evaporated or solar plants; owned by Stone Canyon Industries Holdings since 2021, together with Windsor Salt, SPL (Chile), Kissner and Detroit Salt. mortonsalt.com
• Compass Minerals - Overland Park, Kansas. Rock salt from Goderich (Ontario), Cote Blanche (Louisiana) and Lyons (Kansas), solar salt from the Great Salt Lake at Ogden (Utah) and the Winsford mine in England; 10.8 million tonnes of salt sold in fiscal 2025. compassminerals.com
• Cargill Salt - Minnesota. Rock-salt mines under Lake Erie at Cleveland (Ohio) and at Lansing (New York), evaporated salt at Breaux Bridge (Louisiana), solar salt at Newark (California) and on Bonaire; the Avery Island mine closed in 2021. cargill.com
• American Rock Salt - Mount Morris, New York. Privately held de-icing specialist whose Hampton Corners mine claims to be the largest producing salt mine in the United States. americanrocksalt.com
• Texas Brine - Houston, Texas. The largest brine supplier to the US chlor-alkali industry, with solution-mined brine fields and salt-cavern storage in Texas and Louisiana. texasbrine.com
• United Salt Corporation - Houston, Texas. Evaporated salt from Baytown (Texas) and Carlsbad (New Mexico) for water softening and industry. unitedsalt.com
• US Salt - Watkins Glen, New York. Evaporated-salt refiner and one of only three US producers of round-can table salt; acquired by ContextLogic in February 2026.
• Kissner Group - Detroit Salt Company - de-icing packager and owner of the Detroit rock-salt mine; part of SCIH Salt Holdings. kissner.com
• Hutchinson Salt Company - Hutchinson, Kansas. Family-owned rock-salt mine (the former Carey Salt mine) for de-icing and agriculture. hutchinsonsalt.com
• Redmond (Real Salt) - Redmond, Utah. Family-owned mine of unrefined salt from an ancient inland sea deposit. realsalt.com

Canada

• Windsor Salt (SCIH Salt Holdings) - Windsor, Ontario. Canada's leading salt brand, with the Ojibway mine and evaporator plant at Windsor, the Pugwash mine (Nova Scotia), Mines Seleine (Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec) and Lindbergh (Alberta). windsorsalt.com
• Compass Minerals Canada - Sifto - Goderich, Ontario. The Goderich mine is the largest underground salt mine in the world; further plants at Amherst (Nova Scotia) and Unity (Saskatchewan). compassminerals.com
• Atlas Salt - Newfoundland. Development-stage Great Atlantic rock-salt project, planned as a multi-million-tonne road-salt mine. atlassalt.com

Mexico

• Exportadora de Sal (ESSA) - Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur. The world's largest solar saltworks, with more than 8 million tonnes a year; fully owned by the Mexican state since it bought Mitsubishi's 49% stake in 2024. essa.com.mx
• Industria Salinera de Yucatán (ISYSA, Grupo Industrial Roche) - Las Coloradas, Yucatán. Mexico's second-largest solar producer, harvesting around 750,000 tonnes a year from the pink ponds of Las Coloradas; brands Sal Sol and Sal Roche. isysa.com.mx
• Sales del Istmo (Cydsa) - Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz. Solution-mined vacuum salt; La Fina is Mexico's leading table-salt brand. cydsa.com

Caribbean

• Morton Bahamas - Great Inagua, Bahamas. Morton Salt's large solar saltworks and the island's main employer.
• Cargill Salt Bonaire - Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands. Solar salt from the Pekelmeer ponds, exported as industrial salt.

Salt producers in South America

Chile (9 million tonnes) and Brazil (6.6 million tonnes) lead South American production (USGS 2026). Chile's Salar Grande is one of the main sources of de-icing salt for the US East Coast, while Brazil's output is almost entirely solar sea salt from the state of Rio Grande do Norte.

Chile

• SPL - Sociedad Punta de Lobos (SCIH Salt Holdings) - Santiago; mine at Salar Grande de Tarapacá, port at Puerto Patillos. One of the world's largest open-pit salt mines and a major exporter of de-icing salt to North America; part of K+S from 2006 to 2021 and now of Stone Canyon's Morton group. spl-latam.com

Brazil

• Salinor - Salinas do Nordeste (Henrique Lage group) - Areia Branca and Macau, Rio Grande do Norte. Brazil's largest sea-salt producer. salinor.com.br
• Norsal - Norte Salineira - Areia Branca. Long-established solar salt producer. norsal.com.br
• Cimsal - Mossoró. Solar salt works and refinery. cimsal.com.br
• F. Souto - Macau and Mossoró. Solar salt producer and refiner.
• Refinaria Nacional de Sal - Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro. Maker of Sal Cisne, Brazil's best-known table-salt brand. salcisne.com.br

Argentina

• Celusal (Industrias Químicas y Mineras Timbó) - Buenos Aires; plant in Burruyacú, Tucumán. Argentina's leading fine-salt producer, vacuum-crystallising brine from deep wells; around 65% of the country's fine salt.
• Dos Anclas (Compañía Introductora de Buenos Aires) - Salinas del Bebedero, San Luis. Historic brand founded in 1901; reopened a modernised salt plant in 2026. dosanclas.com.ar

Colombia

• Brinsa (Refisal) - Cajicá. Colombia's dominant salt producer, mining rock salt at Sesquilé and refining it under the Refisal brand; investing around US$100 million in a new refinery (2025). Mining at Zipaquirá ended in 2025 and the Manaure sea-salt works in La Guajira is being reactivated. brinsa.com.co

Peru

• Quimpac (Emsal) - Callao. Peru's chlor-alkali group and dominant salt producer, harvesting the Huacho and Otuma salt flats; Emsal is the leading table-salt brand. quimpac.com.pe

What changed in the salt industry (2021-2026)

The salt industry consolidates slowly but steadily. These are the moves that have reshaped the list of producers in recent years.

• April 2021 - K+S sells its Americas salt business (Morton Salt, Windsor Salt, SPL Chile) to Stone Canyon Industries Holdings for US$3.2 billion and refocuses on Europe.
• October 2021 - Nobian divests its consumer and specialty salt brands (JOZO, NEZO, Suprasel, Sanal) to Groupe Salins.
• February 2024 - Mexico buys Mitsubishi's 49% stake in Exportadora de Sal, making the world's largest solar saltworks fully state-owned.
• December 2024 - Rio Tinto's Dampier Salt completes the A$375 million sale of Lake MacLeod to Leichhardt Industrials.
• May 2025 - Romania's Praid salt mine (Salrom) floods and is closed.
• December 2025 - Greece launches the privatisation of Hellenic Saltworks; seven bidders qualify for the next phase in July 2026.
• February 2026 - US Salt (Watkins Glen) is acquired by ContextLogic Holdings.
• June 2026 - K+S agrees to acquire Qemetica's salt business (Staßfurt and Janikowo) for €350 million plus earn-out; closing expected in the first quarter of 2027.
• Late 2026 - BCI Minerals' Mardie project in Western Australia prepares its first salt exports, adding a new large solar producer to the Asia-Pacific market.

Frequently asked questions about salt producers

Who is the largest salt producer in the world?

By country, China is the largest producer with an estimated 56 million tonnes in 2025, followed by the United States (40 million tonnes) and India (30 million tonnes). By company, the state-owned China National Salt Industry Group is generally considered the largest, while Stone Canyon's Morton Salt group, Compass Minerals, Cargill and K+S are the largest producers in the Western world.

How much salt is produced in the world each year?

About 270 million tonnes in 2025, slightly down from 275 million tonnes in 2024, according to the US Geological Survey. Demand is driven mainly by the chemical industry and road de-icing.

Who are the biggest salt producers in Europe?

Germany is Europe's largest producing country (15 million tonnes), followed by the Netherlands, France, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The leading companies are K+S, Nobian, Groupe Salins, Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke, Compass Minerals UK, British Salt (Tata Chemicals) and Qemetica, whose salt business is being acquired by K+S.

Is Belgium a salt producer?

Belgium has no salt mines or saltworks, so it does not appear in production statistics. The Belgian salt industry consists of salt companies such as ZOUTMAN, which process crude solar sea salt into food, water-softening, de-icing and agricultural salt for more than 60 export markets.

What is the difference between sea salt, rock salt and vacuum salt producers?

Sea-salt (solar) producers evaporate seawater or lake brine in open ponds; rock-salt producers mine underground halite deposits; vacuum-salt producers dissolve deposits into brine and recrystallise it in vacuum evaporators to reach about 99.9% purity. Solar salt dominates in Australia, Mexico, India and the Mediterranean; rock and vacuum salt dominate in north-western Europe and North America.

Which companies produce sea salt in Europe?

The largest European sea-salt producers are Groupe Salins (Camargue, Torrevieja, Margherita di Savoia), Hellenic Saltworks (Greece), Sosalt (Sicily), Salinera Española (Ibiza) and the Croatian and Slovenian Adriatic saltworks, alongside artisan producers such as Le Guérandais, Maldon and Halen Môn. EuSalt counts some 48 sea-salt companies producing about 3.4 million tonnes a year, around 10% of European salt.

Which company owns Morton Salt?

Morton Salt has been owned by Stone Canyon Industries Holdings since April 2021, when it bought K+S's Americas salt business for US$3.2 billion. K+S had owned Morton since 2009. The same group owns Windsor Salt in Canada and SPL in Chile.

What is the largest salt mine in the world?

The Goderich mine in Ontario, Canada, operated by Compass Minerals, is the largest underground salt mine in the world. The Khewra mine in Pakistan, operated by PMDC, is usually cited as the second largest.

What is the largest sea salt producer in the world?

Exportadora de Sal (ESSA) at Guerrero Negro in Mexico is the world's largest solar saltworks, producing around 8 million tonnes a year. Rio Tinto's Dampier Salt in Western Australia is one of the largest exporters of seaborne salt.

Which countries import the most salt?

The United States is the largest importer, buying about 19 million tonnes in 2025 - mainly from Mexico, Chile, Canada and Egypt - to cover roughly a third of its consumption. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia also import most of their industrial salt, largely from Australia and Mexico.

What is salt mainly used for?

In industrialised countries the bulk of salt goes to the chemical industry (chlorine, caustic soda, soda ash) and to road de-icing; in the United States these two uses take about 42% and 37% respectively. Food, water softening, animal feed and pharmaceuticals account for the remainder.

Is the world running out of salt?

No. USGS describes salt reserves as large and the oceans as a virtually inexhaustible supply. Availability is a question of logistics, energy and local permitting rather than geology.

Methodology and sources

What this list includes. Companies that extract or crystallise salt - rock-salt mines, solution mining and vacuum-salt plants, and solar sea-salt or lake-salt works - plus the major refiners and packers that supply national markets. We exclude pure traders and distributors, directory listings and chemical groups that use captive brine for soda ash or chlor-alkali production without selling salt (for example Solvay, which is why it no longer appears in this list).

Figures. Country production comes from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (published February 2026); 2025 values are estimates. Company volumes are taken from annual reports, stock-exchange filings and press releases, and are capacities or sales as stated by the companies - capacity and actual production can differ considerably. Chinese national statistics report well over 100 million tonnes a year, far above the USGS figure, largely because of differences in how brine for the chemical industry is counted.

Status. Last fully revised in October 2026. Earlier versions of this page dated back to the early 2000s; companies such as AkzoNobel Salt, Salt Union, Ciech, Dansk Salt, Rheinsalinen and Atisale now appear under their current names and owners. We review the list at least once a year.

Main sources. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 - Salt · EuSalt and its sea salt market brochure · Compass Minerals Form 10-K, fiscal 2025 · K+S press release on the Qemetica acquisition (June 2026) · Nobian · Rio Tinto - Dampier Salt · Growthfund - Hellenic Saltworks · company websites linked in the lists above.