What is it?
Sodium carbonate, mined from trona rock or made from salt, and the second ingredient in almost every sheet of glass.
Why does it matter?
Solar-panel glass, container glass and flat glass all pull on the same soda-ash supply.
Deeper written sections for this material have not been published yet. Everything below is drawn straight from the source datasets and is complete.
Where it comes from in the rock
All ore minerals →These are the minerals that actually carry soda ash. A deposit is only an orebody if one of them is concentrated enough to pay for digging it up.
Who produces it
See it on a map →Mine production: Natural
Mine production: Naturalthousand metric tons 2025 (estimated)
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Natural and synthetic production combined, gross weight. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 12,000 | — |
| Turkey | 6,000 | — |
| Botswana | 290.0 | — |
| Kenya | 270.0 | — |
| Ethiopia | 18.00 | — |
| Other countries | Not applicable | — |
Mine production: natural and synthetic, rounded
Mine production: natural and synthetic, roundedthousand metric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 71,000 thousand metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Natural and synthetic production combined, gross weight. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | 71,000 | 100% |
Mine production: natural, rounded
Mine production: natural, roundedthousand metric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 19,000 thousand metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Natural and synthetic production combined, gross weight. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | 19,000 | 100% |
Mine production: synthetic
Mine production: syntheticthousand metric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 52,000 thousand metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Natural and synthetic production combined, gross weight. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | 52,000 | 100% |
“Withheld” means the USGS suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing an individual company's data — it does not mean zero. Country rows do not always sum to the world total because the source rounds each figure independently and does not always break out an “other countries” line.
Who holds the reserves
Reserves: Natural
Reserves: Naturalthousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 23,000,000 | — |
| Turkey | 840,000 | — |
| Ethiopia | 400,000 | — |
| Other countries | 280,000 | — |
| Botswana | 16,000 | — |
| Kenya | 7,000 | — |
Reserves: natural and synthetic, rounded
Reserves: natural and synthetic, roundedthousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | Not available | 100% |
Reserves: natural, rounded
Reserves: natural, roundedthousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | 25,000,000 | 100% |
Reserves: synthetic
Reserves: syntheticthousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| World total | Not available | 100% |
Price
average unit value of sales (natural source), free on board (f.o.b.) mine or plant: Dollars per metric ton
Annual averagedollars per metric ton
Basis: average unit value of sales (natural source), free on board (f.o.b.) mine or plant: Dollars per metric ton. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
average unit value of sales (natural source), free on board (f.o.b.) mine or plant: Dollars per short ton
Annual averagedollars per short ton
Basis: average unit value of sales (natural source), free on board (f.o.b.) mine or plant: Dollars per short ton. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
What it is used for
All end markets →| End market | What it does there | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Power | Cover glass | Important |
How much of it a technology needs
| Technology | Quantity | Quoted | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cadmium Telluride Thin-Film Module | 1,500–3,000 kg | per MW of capacity | Glass superstrate |
| Crystalline Silicon Solar Module | 1,000–2,500 kg | per MW of capacity | Cover glass |
Indicative range compiled from published technology studies and chemistry; verify against a manufacturer specification before use. Run these numbers at any scale in the material calculator →