North American Sodium Chlorate
Our Operations

Our North American sodium chlorate business is our largest operating segment. Facilities are located at: Brandon, Manitoba; Beauharnois, Quebec; and Nanaimo, British Columbia, with an aggregate practical capacity of almost 370,000 MT/year. We currently operate just over 20% of the North American sodium chlorate capacity and together with two other producers make up about 75% of the continent’s capacity.

Brandon is our flagship plant, accounting for 80% of our North American sodium chlorate production. It’s the world’s largest and North America’s lowest-cost facility.

Electricity is the single biggest variable cost in producing sodium chlorate in North America. Other major manufacturing components are salt and water. As a result, competitive electricity costs are critical to profitability. Strategically, all of our plants are located in regulated lower-cost hydroelectricity regions, with Manitoba’s hydroelectricity being among the lowest.

Approximately 95% of sodium chlorate produced in North America is sold to the pulp and paper industry to produce chlorine dioxide, an environmentally preferred pulp bleaching agent for paper and paper products. Therefore, growth in sodium chlorate is driven by growth in bleached pulp.

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