Business data

 According to the authoritative data released by the General Administration of Customs of China in 2025, the import and export of Chinese raw salt (industrial salt as the main component) is as follows:

China's total imports and exports of raw salt in 2025
Total imports: 12.924 million tons
Compared with 2024, the import volume decreased by 8.1%. Despite the decline of total import volume, the import scale still far exceeded the export volume, indicating a high degree of domestic industrial salt supply's reliance on imports.

Total export volume: 949,000 tons
Compared with 2024, the export volume increased by 43.6% year-on-year, indicating strong international market demand.

The structure of import source countries (highly concentrated)
China's imported salt is highly dependent on a few countries, with the top two source countries accounting for more than 97% in total:

India: Supplying 9.876 million tons, accounting for 76.4% of the total imports, it is the absolute dominant source.
Australia: Supplying 2.735 million tons, accounting for 21.2% of the total imports.
Mexico: Supplying 263,000 tons, accounting for 2.0%.
The combined share of other countries is less than 0.5%.
Importing regions are concentrated: The imported salt mainly flows to the eastern coastal chemical industry-intensive areas. Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Tianjin collectively receive the vast majority of the imports.
Key trends and background:
Price factor: The average price of imported raw salt in 2025 is approximately $33.8 USD per ton, a year-on-year decrease of about 16%. Indian salt continues to hold a dominant position due to its price advantage.
Industrial logic: China is the world's largest salt producer, but industrial salt (mainly used in chlor-alkali, chemical, and glass industries) is imported due to lower costs, leading to the displacement of some domestic production capacity and forming an "extensive import and concentrated export" external dependency industrial pattern.
Policy background: Since the implementation of the "Salt Industry Reform Plan" in 2017, the industrial salt market has been fully liberalized, allowing enterprises to purchase independently, further strengthening the market-oriented import model.