Caustic soda Price 2026: Trend by Country, Producers and Outages

United States FOB export unit values averaged USD 261 per t in the second quarter of 2026, +24.3% on the first quarter, on the customs record of the largest single export flow in the series. The rise came off a low first quarter; the US remained one of the lowest-priced origins among the live countries, above only Japan.

On the supply side the US Gulf lost diaphragm capacity at the turn of the year: Westlake ceased operations at a Lake Charles diaphragm unit in December 2025 and Olin closed asbestos-based diaphragm capacity at Freeport tied to Dow's propylene oxide exit, while Olin reported an extended Freeport turnaround and unplanned downtime in the fourth quarter of 2025 before returning to normal operations. OxyChem passed to Berkshire Hathaway in January 2026 with its Battleground membrane conversion due in 2026.

For July, the world figure of USD 258 per t sat below the second-quarter US mean, and the US export unit value itself eased month on month; the direction into the third quarter depends on Gulf operating rates after the closures and on export demand from Latin America, where Brazil's import unit value was USD 290 per t in the quarter.

Figures: quarter means of published monthly points, trade-implied from customs data; every monthly point shows its document and cell in the dashboard.

Germany's CIF import unit value averaged USD 366 per t in the second quarter of 2026, +9.0% on the first quarter, with the quarter mean lifted by a single high June month that reversed in July. The Netherlands FOB export series, the other European leg, averaged USD 228 per t over the months reported so far, +9.8% on the first quarter; Dutch customs data for June and July had not yet carried quantities when this note was built, so the Dutch line is marked stale on the page until it does.

The European cost base is set by membrane capacity concentrated in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands: INEOS Inovyn at Antwerp-Lillo, Jemeppe, Tavaux, Rosignano, Stenungsund, Runcorn and Rheinberg; Vynova at Tessenderlo and Runcorn; Covestro at Dormagen, Leverkusen and Uerdingen; Nobian at Rotterdam Botlek, Delfzijl, Frankfurt and Bitterfeld; and Westlake Vinnolit at Gendorf and Knapsack. INEOS has announced the closure of its Rheinberg chlor-alkali unit, and Nobian has converted Botlek to zero-gap membrane cells; both are logged in the plant registry with their documents.

Into the third quarter the German import value fell back to the level of the spring months. It still sits well above the tonnage-weighted world figure of USD 258 per t for July, because that figure is dominated by the large United States and Japanese export flows, which carry lower unit values than a landed European cargo. The spread between the German import value and the Dutch export value is the freight-and-margin gap the European market has to close; the desk will add the Dutch June and July points as soon as the quantities are reported.

Figures: quarter means of published monthly points, trade-implied from customs data; every monthly point shows its document and cell in the dashboard.

Asia Pacific is covered by two export legs. India's FOB export unit value averaged USD 433 per t in the second quarter of 2026, +11.2% on the first quarter and the highest quarter in the twelve-month window, with May the peak month. Japan's FOB export unit value averaged USD 195 per t over the same quarter, +17.0% on the first quarter, and remains the lowest-priced origin among the live countries. Both series are lye on an as-shipped basis, so part of the gap between them reflects the concentration of the cargoes rather than the price of contained caustic; the methodology note on the page explains the basis.

China, the largest producer, does not appear in the public customs feed the desk uses, so the region is priced from the Indian and Japanese legs until a Chinese series with a receipt can be added; the page says so rather than estimating. On the supply side the Indian registry lists seventeen plants across Grasim, GACL, DCM Shriram, Reliance, GNAL, Epigral and Chemplast Sanmar, with Grasim's Karwar unit logged as an open outage since January 2025 and Epigral's Dahej expansion running; Japan is represented by Kashima Chlorine & Alkali, with Tosoh, AGC and Kaneka capacities still to be registered from their filings.

Both legs turned down in July: India's export value dropped to its lowest month of the window and Japan's eased back towards its spring level, which pulled the tonnage-weighted world figure to USD 258 per t. The Indian move is the one to watch into the third quarter, since the second-quarter peak coincided with the Karwar outage and a strong export month rather than with any registered new capacity; the desk has asks open on the Karwar restart and on Epigral's commissioning dates.

Figures: quarter means of published monthly points, trade-implied from customs data; every monthly point shows its document and cell in the dashboard.

Brazil is the Latin American leg of the series, priced on the CIF import unit value from Brazilian customs. It averaged USD 290 per t in the second quarter of 2026, +10.0% on the first quarter, rising every month from April to June and holding that level in July. It was the steadiest of the live countries over the quarter: no month moved more than a tenth against the previous one.

The Brazilian landed value tracked the United States FOB export value with a lag through the quarter, which is what a market supplied largely by Gulf Coast cargoes would show; the desk has not yet registered the Brazilian producers (Unipar, Braskem) or a supply-demand balance for the country, so the page states the price series and its receipts only. Those rows are on the registry queue.

Into the third quarter the July import value was flat on June while the US export value eased, so the landed-to-FOB spread widened. If the US Gulf value keeps easing after its spring peak, the Brazilian import value would be expected to follow with the usual lag; the world figure of USD 258 per t for July is already below the Brazilian second-quarter mean.

Figures: quarter means of published monthly points, trade-implied from customs data; every monthly point shows its document and cell in the dashboard.