The majority of mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble forms are called by the common name potash.
Owing to its many uses, potash is produced worldwide at amounts exceeding 30 million tonnes per year. The carbonate of potash has long been used for bleaching textiles, making glass, soap. Today, potash is most used in fertilizers as it is the third major crop nutrient. Potash has a diverse range of uses outside agriculture sector as well; it is also used to manufacture ceramics, chemical dyes, glass, pharmaceutical drugs, synthetic rubber, de-icing agents, and explosives.
The earliest mining of potash happened in the fourteenth century in Ethiopia. Tigray’s Dallol area in Ethiopia has some of the largest deposits of potash in the world.
The World Map of Potash Producing Nations shows the list of the major countries that produce vast quantities of potash. As the map shows, Canada is the world’s largest producer and exporter of potash; in 2010, it produced approximately 9500 thousand tonnes of potash. It is also the largest exporter of potash.
Russia had a production of 6800 thousand tonnes, making the country the second global producer on the potash international market, followed by Belarus with 5 million tonnes.
The fourth-largest producer of potash is China followed by Germany, Israel, United States, Jordan, Chile, Spain, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Ukraine.
Brazil is the largest consumer of potash with ninety percent of imports being potash products.
MAJOR POTASH PRODUCERS OF THE WORLD-2010
| COUNTRY | PRODUCTION (THOUSAND METRIC TONNES) |
|---|---|
| Canada | 9500 |
| Russia | 6800 |
| Belarus | 5000 |
| China | 3000 |
| Germany | 3000 |
| Israel | 2100 |
| United States | 1900 |
| Jordan | 1200 |
| Chile | 700 |
| Spain | 400 |
| United Kingdom | 400 |
| Brazil | 400 |
| Ukraine | 12 |