Asian soda ash prices continued their downward trajectory in the first half of April, weighed down by abundant supply and sluggish demand from the glass industry. High production rates at local soda ash plants, coupled with limited maintenance activity, kept market supply well above demand. Meanwhile, downstream buyers were cautious, purchasing only as needed, and avoiding bulk procurement in April 2025. Weakness in the glass sector, a major consumer of soda ash, further dragged demand, reinforcing market bearishness and signaling continued pressure on prices in the short term.

The Asian market for soda ash has been pressured by robust supply fundamentals. The production rate of local soda ash plants stayed high, as the majority of plants produced steadily and there were fewer shutdowns experienced in April. The utilization rate of production capacity stayed at around 90%, leading to sufficient market supply. While some minor maintenance works were carried out, as at Tianjin Soda Plant where it ran at about 50%, the return to operation by Kunlun Soda and stable output from other participants kept total supply at high levels.

On the buying side, downstream buying sentiment was sluggish. Buyers were cautious, buying only to satisfy current needs. Huge-scale restocking was conspicuous by its absence. The downstream glass industry, a major consumer of soda ash, showed limited activity and weak performance. Glass prices have gone down since the end of March 2025. While the production capacity utilization level in the glass industry improved, oversupply coupled with weak end-user demand created sluggish consumption of inventories and low transaction levels.

The performance of the soda ash market during March was also following the same trend. Prices went up before falling again towards the end of the month. The trend has also followed into April, with prices continuing to weaken in the face of bearish sentiment among buyers and producers alike. Even though there were minor decreases in inventories among some of the soda ash producers in early April, overall inventories are still high, indicating ongoing oversupply.

There are no apparent signs of rebounding in downstream industries, indicating that soda ash prices will remain weak in the short run.

As per ChemAnalyst, industry participants expect soda ash prices to stay low due to the expected slow improvement in the demand from downstream sectors. With new production capacity scheduled to be added and buyers still taking a wait-and-see stance, the Asian soda ash market is set for a phase of persistently low prices.