‘Diversifying is what we do’: Port of Vancouver breaks ground on soda ash export terminal

Export partners and port officials broke ground Tuesday at the Port of Vancouver on a new soda ash export terminal, which will replace the current bulk mineral operation there.

Soda ash, also known as sodium carbonate, is used in powdered detergents and soaps, glass manufacturing and rechargeable batteries, among other things.

The port first announced the plan to revamp its Terminal 2, Berth 7 operation in 2023.

“Diversifying is what we do,” Port of Vancouver CEO Julianna Marler said at Tuesday’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Marler said enduring success at the port requires the right mix of commodities and businesses.

“Today, we are putting shovels in the ground to add an essential building block commodity to that mix,” she said.

Berth 7, west of the United Grain Corp. elevator, is a dry bulk export dock with a covered storage area and a telescoping conveyor system.

Vancouver Bulk Terminal, which runs the port’s mineral bulk commodities operation, uses the system to export primarily copper concentrate and bentonite clay, some of the port’s top exports. That, however, will be ramped down to make way for the soda ash operation, according to a port spokesman.

Marler called soda ash a vital commodity that will continue to be needed for decades to come.

The berth will be redeveloped through 2026, bringing in rail improvements, new enclosed storage, new conveyance and a modern ship loader.

“What we’re beginning today is far more than a cargo facility,” said Bob Owens, president and CEO at Nautilus International Holding Corp., one of the owners of Vancouver Bulk Terminal. “It’s an engine for sustainable growth, jobs and global trade.”

The operation expects to see one ship exporting soda ash every week, said Alex Strogen, chief commercial officer at the Port of Vancouver.

The United Grain terminal, by comparison, sees at least two to three ships a week.

“This will be a smaller operation,” Strogen said.

It will, however, be larger than the current bulk mineral operation, which sees one ship every two weeks.

Soda ash has a tremendous amount of longevity as a port export, Strogen added. Wyoming’s Green River Basin has about a thousand years’ supply of soda ash.

Richard von Appen is the president at Chile-based shipping and logistics company Ultramar Group, the other owner of Vancouver Bulk Minerals.

He spoke Tuesday about how international trade has brought millions of people out of poverty.

“I hope that Vancouver Bulk Terminal can help to have a closer relationship (between) this wonderful region, this wonderful city (and) the rest of the world,” von Appen said.

Vancouver Bulk Terminal is partnering with Belgian company Solvay, which specializes in the manufacturing and distributing of chemicals and plastic goods. (The company runs Solvay Chemicals in Longview.)

In 2022, Solvay announced plans to expand its Green River, Wyoming, soda ash operation. The company will send that product to the Port of Vancouver by rail before it’s shipped worldwide.

The new facility could export nearly 3 million tons of soda ash each year.

Demand for soda ash is growing globally. A 2023 report from Market.Us put the global market value for soda ash at $21.3 billion in 2022, expecting that to nearly double to $43.1 billion by 2032.

Solvay expects its soda ash to be used for sustainable efforts including EV batteries, glass for solar panels, green tires and pollutant removal from industrial exhaust, said Brian Kebart, president of American Soda and EVP Global Supply Chain at Solvay.

Kebart said the terminal represents a significant step in Solvay’s long-term supply strategy and supports President Donald Trump’s desire to rebalance American’s trade deficit.

“This terminal will provide the needed additional export capacity to support capacity growth, not only for Solvay but for the North American soda ash producers as a whole,” he said.