Recently, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan started discharging contaminated water into the sea, causing global attention and concern.

 

On August 24th, China Salt Industry Group Co., Ltd. issued a statement on ensuring the supply of salt in the salt market, stating that due to the impact of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea, salt rush buying has occurred in some regional markets in China. In response to this market fluctuation, China Salt Group hereby makes the following statement: China implements designated production management for table salt, and the main sources of table salt in China are divided into three categories: mine salt, lake salt, and sea salt. At present, the proportion of salt products in China is 87% for mine salt, 10% for sea salt, and 3% for lake salt. The production of mine salt and lake salt is not affected by nuclear pollution in Japan. China National Salt Corporation is the world's largest salt production enterprise, with a salt production capacity of over 10 million tons per year, of which 95% is well and mineral salt, 4% is lake salt, and 1% is sea salt. China Salt Group has a complete layout of production and sales enterprises nationwide, with sufficient salt reserves and supply. China Salt Group has a complete product quality management system and salt safety risk assessment system. Salt products can be traced back to the source, ensuring quality and safety.

 

▲ Photo by Luo Min, a reporter from Red Star News, at the salt warehouse of Sichuan Jiuda Salt Co., Ltd

 

According to the above statement, the proportion of well and mineral salt in China's salt product structure has reached 87%. It is understood that Sichuan is the main production area of mineral salt in China. In recent days, Red Star News reporters have conducted interviews with Sichuan Salt Industry Group Co., Ltd., Zigong salt production enterprises, and traditional well and mine salt production sites to investigate and understand the current situation of well and mine salt in Sichuan

——On site visits——

The world's first ultra kilometer deep well

Zigong Shenhai Well Salt Products Hot Selling Traditional Well Mine Salt Production Area

On Monday, August 28th, at 289 Da'an Street, Da'an District, Zigong City, Sichuan Province, the world's first ultra kilometer deep well and a national key cultural relic protection unit - Zigong Shenhai Well - finally quieted down after two days of noise over the weekend. However, the sales window was still crowded, and everyone's goal was only one: "Salt

Zigong is a famous millennium salt capital with over 2000 years of salt production history. The citizens of Zigong are not worried about salt shortage, and the locals almost never eat sea salt. On August 24th and 25th, during peak hours, the vast majority of citizens queuing at the window were entrusted by relatives and friends from other places to buy salt.

Regarding the phenomenon of salt hoarding in some areas, the employees of Shenhai Well stated that there is an inexhaustible supply of salt brine in the rock layer more than 1000 meters deep beneath their feet, indicating that there is no shortage of salt.

 

▲ Photo by Luo Min, a reporter from Red Star News in Shenghaijing, Zigong, a national key cultural relic protection unit

 

Lu Xiaojuan, General Manager of Zigong Shenhai Tourism Development Co., Ltd., introduced to Red Star News reporters that Shenhai Well was drilled in 1835 AD (the 15th year of the Qing Dynasty's Daoguang reign), with a depth of 1001.42 meters, making it the world's first deep well over 1000 meters at that time. Later, due to production needs, the well depth was deepened to 1346 meters. Although it has a history of 188 years, Shenhai Well can still extract brine and brew handmade salt normally.

On the morning of August 28th, the staff put the brine bucket hanging above the wellhead into the Shenhai well. A few minutes later, more than 100 kilograms of brine were extracted to the surface, and then the brine was poured into the diversion basin and quickly flowed away along the conveying pipe. The Red Star News reporter tasted the brine that had just been pumped up from the bottom of the well, and it was indeed salty in taste.

Above the wellhead is the salt making workshop, where 8 large pots are boiling traditional handmade salt. Lu Xiaojuan told Red Star News reporters that the underground structure where Shenhai Well is located is a geological structure of brine gas coexistence. The natural gas layer is seven to eight hundred meters underground, and the salt brine layer is below 1000 meters. Therefore, the initial depth of Shenhai Well was just over 1000 meters, which is the brine layer. Our handmade salt has a sodium chloride content of 94%, with the rest being trace elements. The salt particles are snowflake shaped and do not contain any other ingredients

It is understood that Shenghai Well in Zigong is an AAAA level scenic spot, and its salt making process is a national intangible cultural heritage. Due to the complex traditional craftsmanship, the annual salt production capacity of Shenhaijing Salt Workshop is over 800 tons, which is less than the daily production capacity of Jiuda Salt Industry Company in Zigong. Therefore, most of the salt from Shenhaijing is digested locally or sold as a cultural and tourism specialty product to tourists.

 

▲ Photo by Luo Min, a reporter from Red Star News, on the export of handmade salt from Shenhai Well

 

At present, the daily extraction of brine from the bottom of Shenhai Well is of a performance nature, with extremely limited consumption of brine and low production capacity. However, in reality, the underground salt and brine reserves of Shenhai Well are enormous, and they are high-quality black brine that has not yet been extensively exploited and used. Therefore, everyone doesn't have to worry about salt shortage at all, "said Lu Xiaojuan.

——Zigong Salt Enterprise——

The daily production capacity of raw salt in the base reaches 1000 tons

Recently, orders have doubled and truck drivers can rest assured when they see a full warehouse of salt

Sichuan Jiuda Salt Production Co., Ltd. is the largest salt production enterprise in Zigong. On the afternoon of August 28th, in the company's Shuping Park, four buses carrying more than 200 business inspection teams from all over the country entered the salt production workshop and warehouse. After visiting four large vacuum salt making machines and over 20 production lines with full power, a distributor told Red Star News reporters, "There's really no need to be nervous, there's plenty of salt

Red Star News reporters noticed that in Shuping Park, there are more than 10 trucks from all over the country parked, and the finished salt in the warehouse is piled up like a mountain. Forklift drivers and workers are busy dressing up the trucks without stopping. A truck driver from Hebei told Red Star News that his truck was loaded with 12 tons of salt and ready to deliver it to Luzhou, Sichuan. I haven't seen the salt warehouse before, so I'm a bit worried. Today, seeing piles of salt in this warehouse, I can tell everyone: there's no need to worry at all.

 

▲ Photo by Luo Min, a reporter from Red Star News, in the salt production workshop of Sichuan Jiuda Salt Co., Ltd

 

Firmly ensuring supply and orderly transportation, "Li Tao, the Chief Financial Officer of Sichuan Jiuda Salt Co., Ltd., pointed to a sign on the wall of the salt production workshop and told Red Star News reporters that the company's orders have doubled since August 24th. On August 24th and 25th, the growth rate of orders reached its peak, which was 10 times that of regular orders; On August 28th, daily orders gradually fell back to two or three times their usual levels.

Li Tao introduced that currently in China's edible salt market, well mineral salt is the main force. In addition to Sichuan having high-quality salt mineral resources, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei also have salt mines. In addition to Zigong, Sichuan also has salt mines in Leshan and Suining. China's well salt looks at Sichuan, and Sichuan's well salt looks at Zigong, "Li Tao told Red Star News reporters. The maximum daily production capacity of the base's raw salt is 1200 tons (including 1000 tons of small packaged household salt), and the normal daily production capacity of raw salt reaches 1000 tons.

Before Japan started discharging nuclear contaminated water into the sea, the company's daily shipments ranged from 700 to 800 tons. Since August 25th, the daily shipment volume has exceeded 3000 tons, and the daily shipment volume of household small bag salt has reached over 5 million bags, with a peak of 8 million bags. It is understood that the company's salt products are sold throughout the country.

According to the average daily salt intake of 6 grams of Chinese people, the country consumes about 8400 tons of salt every day, so only the daily salt output of Jiuda Zigong Base can supply the daily salt demand of 166 million people. Li Tao told Red Star News reporters that there are abundant salt resources underground in Zigong, nearby Leshan Jianwei, and Neijiang Weiyuan. The company has salt mining bases and salt factories in Yingcheng, Hubei, Daying, Sichuan, Jianwei, Leshan, and Zigong, with an annual output of 2.3 million tons of raw salt and 500000 tons of household small bag salt.

China has abundant salt resources. Taking the Zigong area in Sichuan Province as an example, its underground salt mines are divided into two parts: the Weixi salt mine, which exists in the form of solid rock salt, and the natural salt brine, which exists in liquid form 1000 meters underground. According to relevant data from 1994, the salt resource reserves in the region centered on Zigong are over 17 billion tons. Based on the current edible salt production capacity of 300000 tons, it can produce 56000 years of salt. Li Tao said, "So, everyone doesn't have to worry about not having enough salt to eat. Well and mine salt is safe and reliable, and we should buy it rationally.

——Chuanyan Group——

The company's annual salt production capacity exceeds 1.5 million tons

All of them are well mineral salts that can fully meet the supply needs of the Sichuan market

Sichuan Salt Industry Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sichuan Salt Group) is the largest state-owned salt production and wholesale enterprise in Sichuan. On August 28th, the relevant person in charge of the marketing department of Sichuan Salt Group stated in an interview with Red Star News that "consumers do not need to hoard salt".

It is reported that on August 24th and 25th, there was a peak in the rush to buy edible salt in some parts of Sichuan Province, but by the 26th and 27th, the market had basically returned to normal. According to market statistics from Sichuan Salt Group, under normal circumstances, the daily average sales volume of edible salt in the group is three to four hundred tons, while on August 24th and 25th, the sales volume reached four to five thousand tons.

 

▲ Photo provided by respondents of Sichuan Salt Group's edible salt products

 

Starting from August 24th, Sichuan Salt Group immediately activated the emergency work mechanism, established a market dynamic daily report system, coordinated the allocation of production and sales resources, production enterprises worked overtime for production, and distribution enterprises delivered 24 hours a day to ensure the supply of salt in the market.

It is reported that Sichuan Salt Group has 9 regional large-scale salt distribution centers and 232 salt warehouses distributed in various cities (counties, districts) and towns throughout Sichuan Province, with a total construction area of about 142000 square meters. It has initially formed a "three-level warehousing and logistics system of provinces, cities, and counties (districts)", which centrally schedules the warehousing, circulation, and distribution of materials throughout Sichuan, providing one-stop direct access to terminals.

The reserve of small bags of salt in the group can meet the market demand of the whole Sichuan for three months, "the person in charge told Red Star News reporters. The edible salt market has always been in a state of" supply exceeding demand ". Taking enterprises as an example, Sichuan Salt Group currently has two salt production enterprises located in Leshan and Nanchong, with an average annual production of 1.5 million tons of salt. The annual demand for edible salt in Sichuan Province is 300000 tons, which can fully meet the market supply.

The person in charge stated that China implements designated production management for table salt, and the sources of table salt are mainly divided into three categories: mine salt, lake salt, and sea salt. It is understood that 61% of China's raw salt is mine salt, 22% is sea salt, and 17% is lake salt; 87% of edible salt products come from mine salt, 10% from sea salt, and 3% from lake salt. The total production capacity of Sichuan Salt Group's salt exceeds 1.5 million tons per year, and it is well and mineral salt. It has a complete product quality management system and salt safety risk assessment system. Salt products can be traced back to the source, with guaranteed quality and safety, and sufficient salt reserves and supply.

 

▲ Photo by Luo Min, a reporter from Red Star News in Changshan Town, the output area of Weisi Salt Mine brine

 

According to its introduction, China has abundant salt brine resources, strict food safety production regulations, a complete salt reserve system, and a complete sales network. In terms of the layout of salt production enterprises, China has already achieved nearby production and sales, and each salt production area can achieve mutual coordination and complementarity. Therefore, the broad masses of the people do not need to worry about "salt shortage" at all. They should not believe or spread rumors, and consume rationally.

According to interviews with Red Star News reporters, well salt in China is mainly distributed in provinces such as Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, Henan, Hebei, and Shaanxi. As the main distribution area of well and mineral salt, the salt produced in Sichuan is well and mineral salt. Its advantage is not only abundant reserves, but also deep well brine extraction and vacuum salt production, ensuring the pure natural and pollution-free nature of salt products.