Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 20, 1994 TAG: 9401200067
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Journal of Commerce
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We've had to ship out of areas where we normally don't," said Gene Bitchko, vice president of corporate logistics at Akzo Salt Co. of Clarks Summit, Pa.
"We usually have a 50-mile shipping radius, but we just shipped out of Schenectady [N.Y.] for New York. Normally we would come out of Newark," he added.
Akzo Salt broke a shipping record last week, shipping 250,000 tons more than in any similar period in the company's history, and it anticipates continued heavy volume.
A break in the weather should help it catch up.
"We don't think there's any snow coming for another week," said Catherine Bolton, an Akzo Salt spokeswoman. "This will give us a chance to move our stockpiles around."
The sense of urgency was evident throughout the salt industry. At Atlantic Salt Co., Staten Island, N.Y., workers feverishly helped unload tons of already-sold de-icing salt that had just arrived from the Bahamas, a company source said.
Akzo is the nation's largest rock-salt producer, with 40 percent of the $193.27 million industry's volume. Most domestic rock salt is mined in the eastern United States, primarily by Akzo, Morton Salt and Cargill Salt Co.
Salt buyers are encouraged to keep at least one year's supply in storage, said Richard L. Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute in Alexandria, Va. "But there are some who can't purchase that much in advance."
Most of the 10 million to 11 million tons of de-icing salt produced in the United States each year is rock salt. In addition, about 3 million tons of solar salt is imported annually, he said. Solar salt, formed by water evaporation, is used mostly in the West.
"This winter, we've had more storms hit consecutively," Bolton said. "After the Nor'easter, we received 5,000 calls that week."
Many of the calls are from municipalities, struggling to clear ice-glazed streets.
New York City was forced to reorder more rock salt after using 185,000 tons of the 225,000 tons of rock salt it stored for this winter.
"We received an additional 50,000 tons and have ordered another 40,000 tons since Jan. 10," said Kathy Dawkins, a spokeswoman for the city's Sanitation Department. "We also have 30,000 more tons coming."
by CNB