Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) is among the oldest and most widely produced mineral commodities, with world production reaching 280 million metric tons in 2024 — a scale that exceeds nearly every other mined non-fuel mineral. Unlike most critical materials, salt is geographically abundant: virtually every country has either underground halite deposits, brine aquifers accessible by solution mining, or coastline suitable for solar evaporation. China leads at 20% of world output, but the US (14%), India (10%), Germany (6%), Australia, Canada, and Chile each contribute meaningfully, and reserves are described by USGS as "large" with ocean salt content "virtually inexhaustible." The US produced 40 million metric tons from 26 companies across 16 states in 2024, with Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Utah accounting for 95% of domestic output.

The commercial reality of salt divides cleanly into two markets by value and application. At the high end, vacuum and open pan salt (food, pharmaceutical, and water-softening grade) sells for roughly $230 per metric ton. In the middle, solar salt (industrial and chloralkali grade) trades near $140 per metric ton. At the low end, rock salt for highway deicing is priced around $56 per metric ton, while salt in brine — pumped directly from underground formations for chloralkali plants — costs as little as $10 per metric ton. These wide price spreads reflect transport economics more than production economics: rock salt and brine are bulk commodities with enormous deposits, and freight costs dominate landed price. Highway deicing (41% of US consumption) dominates volume and is highly weather-sensitive; the mild 2023–24 winter caused a visible dip in total US consumption from 54 to 51 million metric tons. Chemical industry use (39%, mainly chloralkali) provides the more stable base load.

The broader sodium supply chain extends well beyond salt itself. The chloralkali process converts NaCl brine into chlorine (Cl₂) and caustic soda (NaOH) — the foundational platform for PVC plastics, water treatment, alumina refining, and hundreds of chemical intermediates. Soda ash (Na₂CO₃) and sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄) are separate downstream sodium commodity markets with their own USGS chapters. Elemental sodium metal — produced by electrolysis of molten NaCl — is a small, specialized market (used in titanium reduction, pharmaceuticals, and as a heat transfer fluid in fast neutron reactors). USGS provides no evidence of supply stress or geopolitical concentration risk for salt; no criticality designation applies, and substitutes in most applications either do not exist economically or cost more without providing meaningful strategic benefit.