The value of soda ash produced in the US in 2005 rose more than 10% year-on-year, but the sector continued to face strong competition from China's synthetic soda ash. 4 companies in s-w Wyoming comprise the majority of the US soda ash industry, which accounted for 35% global soda ash production in 2005, according to an industry report. These companies produced 11.1M/t during 2005, the value of which was around $905M. Dennis Kostick, a soda ash analyst with the US Geological Survey, predicted that domestic demand for soda ash would continue to increase slightly. He said global demand is expected to grow 1.5% to 2% per annum for the next few years. In June 2005, FMC restarted its Granger soda ash plant, which had been inactive since 2001 due to high energy costs. China became the world's sod ash leader in 2003 and was still ranked number one in 2005.
