ISLAMABAD - The indigenous extraction of sodium bicarbonate can help considerably decrease the production costs of a variety of industrial materials. “The excess quantity can also be exported to generate handsome revenues as well,” stresses Abdul Bashir, chief geologist with a Balochistan-based exploration firm, Koh-e-Daleel Minerals Private Limited.
Talking to a news website, he said: “Pakistan possessed immense potential for sodium bicarbonate, which must be tapped. Vast deposits of salt in the country are a great source to produce sodium bicarbonate and some other minerals, including trona and nahcolite. Sodium bicarbonate can also be extracted from the brines, geothermal waters, hot springs, and natural mineral water springs.” Discussing industrial and domestic uses of sodium bicarbonate, Bashir said besides its use in the pharmaceutical industry, it was also used as a food additive in poultry feed, aqueous blast cleaning media, bath additive, exhaust gas neutralising material, in the production of agro-chemicals, fire extinguishing agents, chemical raw material, as water softening agent and as a baking agent. “The textile and food industries also heavily rely on this essential compound.”
He said: “More than 70,000 tonnes of sodium bicarbonate were annually imported at the cost of precious foreign exchange. Foreign investors should be offered lucrative incentives to build the infrastructure and introduce the latest technology to extract sodium bicarbonate.” Highlighting the need for extracting sodium bicarbonate from natural mineral sources, Imran Babar, a miner and geologist, told WealthPK that a good number of miners were still unaware of the extraction method or the value of sodium bicarbonate in both national and international markets. He said that the government should offer incentives to investors in the form of subsidies and easy loans for the establishment of extraction/value-addition units. The global market of sodium bicarbonate is expected to grow to $7.7 billion by the year 2033 at a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% from $4.6 billion in 2023. It is time for the policymakers in Pakistan to evolve a proper framework for the extraction of sodium bicarbonate. It will open new windows of opportunity, and help reduce the reliance on foreign raw materials.