Calcium Hypochlorite

*Short tons per year, excluding pulp mill bleach plant production which is captive. Most capacity is for product with 65% available chlorine. Arch’s smaller plant in Charleston can produce 10,000 short tons per year of 75% available chlorine product.

In 1999, Olin divested its specialty chemicals business, including calcium hypochlorite, forming Arch Chemicals.

Profile last published 10/27/97; this revision 10/31/00.

DEMAND
1998: 77,000 short tons; 1999: 80,000 short tons; 2003: 87,000 short tons, projected. Demand equals production plus imports (1998: 32,000 s.t.; 1999: 10,000 s.t.) less exports (1998: 26,000 s.t.; 1999: 29,000 s.t.).

PRICE
Historical (1994 - 1999): High, $103 granular, per cwt., t.l., east of the Rockies; low, $83.50, same basis. Current: $83.50, same basis.

USES
Swimming pool sanitation, 75 percent; municipal and industrial water treatment, and industrial surface sanitation, 25 percent.

STRENGTH
Calcium hypochlorite, supplied as a concentrated powder, is well established as the preferred material for use in shock treatment sanitation in swimming pools. Shock treatment, a periodic boost in chlorine levels in the pool, may be needed weekly in hot weather. Calcium hypochlorite is strong regionally in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest where most of the nation's above-ground, residential pools are located. Displacement by chlorinated isocyanurates has leveled-off with calcium hypochlorite maintaining its share of the pool sanitizer market.

WEAKNESS
In the residential pool market, calcium hypochlorite competes with chlorinated isocyanurates, which are favored as they are easy to apply, add no calcium to the system, and have better sunlight stability. For regular nonpool water treatment, calcium hypochlorite is disadvantaged because of its higher price compared to sodium hypochlorite and chlorine.

OUTLOOK
Calcium hypochlorite is projected to grow at a modest 2 percent annual rate, in line with pool starts which, in turn, hinge on the weather and the health of the general economy. Market share loss to chlorinated isocyanurates has stabilized, but oxygenated sanitizers, which have been introduced as non-chlorine pool chemicals, could compete in niche markets in the future. The export sector should continue to do well, with export growth outpacing US demand growth. Calcium hypochlorite is being increasingly used in less developed regions of the world for potable water treatment.