Chlorine Prices Continue Skyrocketing

Consumers are feeling a pain in their wallets for the second year in a row as pricesfor trichlor and sanitizer alternatives continue to rise this summer.

With no relief in sight, chlorine prices continue to soar as costs keep rising for pool chemicals this summer. Since almost the very start of the pandemic, prices for pool sanitizers like chlorine have nearly doubled and at the retail level consumers are paying nearly triple what they were before the end of 2020.

Soaring costs for fuel, rising inflation, and a litany of other factors such as logistical delays and workforce shortages have plagued the pool industry. A factory closure due to a fire at one of the nation’s largest producers of dried chlorine products certainly did not help matters.

BioLab, the manufacturer in question is spending $170 million dollars on rebuilding their plant after it burnt to the ground during Hurricane Laura. While many pool professionals were hoping that the plant would be back online in time to impact and offset summer chlorine prices, a series of delays related to a second hurricane has pushed back operations. Consequently, any impact BioLab’s production would have had on this year’s chlorine supply is now a moot point.

Industry pundits and analysts know what caused prices to spike. That’s never been the issue. The question, that remains to be answered: When will chlorine prices go back down? The answer is, they won’t.

While chlorine prices are expected to stabilize somewhat within the next year, rising costs, inflation, and an increase in consumer demand will keep chlorine prices high well into next summer and the immediate, foreseeable future.

Exactly How Much Have Chlorine Prices Increased Since 2020?

Chlorine like many other chemicals, is a commodity. As such, the prices for chemical commodities are clearly viewable from various credible sources. The price index for Alkalies and Chlorine, including Natural Sodium Carbonate and Sulfate, reached a record high of 483.79600 in May of 2022. As we progress later into the summer prices are predicted to continue to rise and blow away analysts’ forecasts.

Well let’s put it this way, you can finance a 50-pound $449 bucket of Bromine tablets for just $41 bucks a month if you buy it from Leslie’s, on Amazon you’ll pay $498 if you can find them in stock. That we’re at a state that necessitates the need for consumers to be able to finance a bucket of tablets, is a pause for reflection on exactly how high prices have gone up.