Market evolution: Sulphites and thiosulphates (CN 2832) — 2015–2025

Introduction

This report examines the trade dynamics of Sulphites; thiosulphates (Combined Nomenclature code 2832) for the European Union over the period 2015–2025. The product heading covers three subcategories: sodium sulphites (283210), other sulphites (283220), and thiosulphates (283230). These inorganic chemicals find applications across diverse sectors, including food preservation, water treatment, pulp and paper processing, photography, and the textile industry. Over the decade under review, the EU has consolidated its position as a structural net exporter of these products, with a trade surplus that grew from €61.2 million in 2015 to €80.0 million in 2025 (+30.7%). The following three sections analyse, respectively, the broad trade trajectory, the geographic and compositional shifts, and the price and volatility dynamics that shaped this market.

1. A Widening Surplus Driven by Falling Import Volumes

1.1 Exports grew in both value and volume while imports contracted sharply

The most striking feature of the decade is the diverging path of EU exports and imports. Over the full period, export value rose from €77.0 million to €94.4 million (+22.6%) and export tonnage increased from 167,063 t to 179,070 t (+7.2%). By contrast, import value edged down from €15.8 million to €14.4 million (−8.8%), and — more dramatically — import volumes nearly halved, falling from 54,532 t to just 28,353 t (−48.0%).

1.2 The EU strengthened its net-exporter position

The net import reliance was already negative in 2015 at −16.8%, confirming a net-exporter status, and deepened further to −20.4% by 2025 (with the lowest point reaching −30.9% along the way). Meanwhile, trade intensity declined from 32.0% to 25.4%, and export propensity fell from 24.8% to 21.8%. Together, these trends suggest that while the EU continued to export robustly, its growing domestic production increasingly served the internal market, reducing both inbound and outbound trade intensity.

1.3 EU production volumes roughly doubled over the decade

Available production data show that EU output (measured in kilograms of Na₂S₂O₅ equivalent) rose from approximately 340 million units in 2015 to 680 million units in 2025 — a 100.1% increase. Production value grew even faster, from €71.5 million to €258 million (+260.8%), reflecting both the volume expansion and the significant price increases observed since 2021. The scale-up of domestic production helps explain why imports shrank so markedly in volume terms: the EU appears to have substituted domestic output for foreign supply.

2. Geographic Re-alignment: New Partners Rise as Traditional Ones Fade

2.1 Import origins shifted away from the United States and Russia toward Türkiye, Thailand, and the UK

The composition of the EU's import partners underwent a significant transformation. Two of the historically important suppliers experienced near-total collapse:

The collapse of US-origin imports is particularly notable: the United States went from the EU's largest import source (€5.54 million) to a marginal supplier (€420,000) in 2025. Russian imports, already modest in 2015, fell effectively to zero — likely reflecting the impact of EU sanctions following 2022. Meanwhile, Türkiye consolidated its position as the leading external supplier, and Thailand emerged as a rapidly growing source. Import concentration (HHI by value) rose from 2,442 to 2,990, indicating that the remaining import flows became more concentrated among fewer partners.

2.2 Export destinations diversified, with Latin America remaining dominant

On the export side, the EU's main customers are in the Americas:

The most dramatic growth was recorded in exports to the United Kingdom (+275%) and Ecuador (+200%). The UK surge likely reflects post-Brexit trade reorientation, with direct EU-UK flows replacing previously intra-EU movements. Ecuador's rise is consistent with the expansion of shrimp aquaculture and food-processing industries in that country, sectors that use sulphites as preservatives. Export concentration remained low (HHI of 486 to 582), indicating a diversified customer base.

2.3 The EU's internal specialisation pattern is dominated by Germany, Belgium, and Italy

Looking at the intra-EU specialisation structure, Germany, Belgium, and Italy are the three most specialised exporters, each displaying a revealed symmetric comparative advantage (RSCA) above 0.28. Germany alone accounts for an estimated 44.3% of EU production in this category, followed by Belgium (17.5%) and Italy (14.5%). At the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Estonia, Luxembourg, and Slovakia show virtually no specialisation in this product class.

3. Price Escalation, Segment Shifts, and Selective Supply Shocks

3.1 Unit prices for imports nearly doubled while export prices rose more moderately

A key structural shift over the decade was the sharp increase in import unit prices, which rose from €289/t in 2015 to €507/t in 2025 (+75.5%). Export unit prices also increased, but more moderately, from €461/t to €527/t (+14.4%). The convergence of import and export unit prices — from a gap of €172/t in 2015 to just €20/t in 2025 — suggests that the composition of imports shifted toward higher-value products, or that remaining import sources command higher prices than the average of 2015 suppliers. This is consistent with the withdrawal of low-cost Russian and US supply and the growing weight of Türkiye and the UK.

3.2 Thiosulphates emerged as the fastest-growing sub-segment, especially in exports

The product segment breakdown reveals a striking compositional shift in exports. Thiosulphates (283230) saw export volumes grow from just 6,245 t in 2015 to 51,014 t in 2025 — an increase of over 717%. This made thiosulphates the largest exported sub-segment by tonnage by 2025, overtaking sodium sulphites (283210), whose export volumes fluctuated between 45,700 t and 64,900 t and ended at 47,777 t, roughly at the same level as in 2015.

On the import side, sodium sulphites remained the dominant category (20,181 t in 2025), while thiosulphate imports collapsed from 31,287 t to 2,940 t (−90.6%). This near-disappearance of thiosulphate imports, combined with explosive export growth, points to a major expansion of EU-based thiosulphate production capacity — likely linked to growing demand in agriculture (as a soil treatment and fertilizer additive) and water treatment applications.

3.3 The 2021–2022 period stands out for price spikes and supply shocks

Both import and export unit prices spiked in 2021–2022 across most sub-segments. For example, the export price of sodium sulphites (283210) jumped from €516/t in 2021 to €844/t in 2022, before settling back to €565/t by 2025. The volatility analysis identifies several notable shocks:

The US import price shock in 2018 (nearly a six-fold increase) is particularly unusual and may reflect a shift in the product mix or a change in trade flows that brought higher-value goods through US customs. The 2022 export price shocks to Mexico and the US coincide with the broader post-COVID commodity price surge and energy cost increases in Europe. Supply-side partners also exhibited varying degrees of volatility: Russia and the US showed the highest coefficients of variation in import flows (3.25 and 1.41 respectively), reflecting their erratic and ultimately declining supply patterns.

Conclusion

Over the 2015–2025 period, the EU market for sulphites and thiosulphates (CN 2832) underwent a structural transformation. The EU consolidated its status as a major net exporter, with a trade surplus that widened by 30.7% to reach €80 million by 2025. This was achieved not through export growth alone — which was a respectable +22.6% in value — but primarily through a dramatic contraction in import volumes (−48.0%), as domestic production roughly doubled. The import side saw significant geographic reorientation: the United States and Russia were largely replaced by Türkiye, the UK, and Thailand. On the export side, the most notable development was the explosive growth of thiosulphate shipments, which grew sevenfold and became the EU's largest exported sub-segment by volume. Prices rose across the board, particularly during the 2021–2022 energy and supply-chain crisis, but have since partially normalised. Overall, the data paint a picture of an EU industry that has scaled up capacity, shifted toward higher-value production, and reduced its dependence on external suppliers — while simultaneously diversifying and expanding its export markets, particularly in Latin America and the UK.