Why Salt Is Vital — But Potentially Catastrophic

Wars fought over it, roads paved for its trade, taxed levied against it and even cities named for its legacy. Salt was once needed to made international economics possible. Salt has shaped the global economy — and the way we use it has shifted dramatically throughout history.

Now, salt’s biggest use is to keep roads safe. The global market for salt was worth over an estimated $13 billion in 2021. More salt is permeating our environment. This increased salinization contaminates drinking water and soils and causes billions in damages.

“You could not have an international economy if you didn’t have salt,” Mark Kurlansky, author of “Salt: A World History,” told CNBC. “There was very little food you could export without salt. Vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products.”

Watch the video above to learn more about how salt became a game-changing mineral and solutions for a saltier world.

Chapters:
0:00 — Introduction
01:26 — From food to roads
05:33 — Hidden markets
07:53 — Saltier world
10:23 — Solutions

About CNBC: From 'Wall Street' to 'Main Street' to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.

Connect with CNBC News Online

#CNBC

Why Salt Is Vital — But Potentially Catastrophic

[Zakerath]

Imagine the reactions if some ancient civilization where salt was as valuable as gold, were convincingly told that in the future, governments would throw out salt into the streets for free, to make them less slippery 😆

[kentbyron]

Bravo thank you for this report as I always wondered about salt. My neighbor's well got contaminated from Road salt and he had to get a new freshwater well drilled farther away from the road at a cost of about $12, 000. This well contamination locally is happening more frequently due to overuse of road salt. And now we have vehicles whose engines can run way past 300, 000 miles but will never see that length of travel because the body of the vehicle corrodes from road salt. We are doing this without much consideration for the future. It's extremely hard to clear up fresh water after its been salinated, and salty freshwater has repercussions for our own health as well as for our agriculture and for the environment which sustains us. It seems like the only time we appreciate fresh water as a species is when we lose it. Clean fresh water is so easy to take for granted, until it's too late.

[jamescox]

I remember 17 years ago I was in charge of a large snow removal contract at a local smelter. I asked the Transportation Department to order 26 skids of salt so I can place them in the S.O.S. bins. You never place loose salt or sand as it freezes solid when moisture is present. I received a call and the transport arrived and we could start placing salt bags in the bins. Once the driver removed the tarp I immediately noticed they sent 26 skids of restaurant / cooking grade salt. I refused the load of salt and notified the Manager of Transportation. We all had a good laugh, then they ordered the correct salt.

[JoelReid]

It is fascinating to see each country and their salt production.
Domestic Australian and Indian salt is almost entirely solar salt simply because it has plenty of warm coastline to produce it. Australia has almost zero rock salt production, and rock salt is almost exclusively used as a niche fashionable food product, not as a primary product.
Compare this to Europe which lacks large coastlines, thus relies much more on rock salt. In fact the food product compared to Australia is almost entirely reversed, with sea salt being the niche fashionable product.

[ckm-mkc]

I'm surprised there is no mention of the cost to consumers as their vehicles corrode away and have to be replaced far sooner than they should. The economic & environmental cost is enormous and far outweighs the benefits of salting the roads. Where I currently live, there are record snowfalls and no salt is used at all - it seems be either habit or just the industry pushing salt on roads, esp. in the Northeast.

[Kyrephare]

I know up here in the Pacific North West in the temperate area, they rarely use salt if it can be avoided, Its temperate here so it rarely snows but the concern is actually for the Salmon population around here. It was very different than when I lived in the Midwest where that rock salt got layered thick after a storm.

[Eozu]

This reminds me of the game Triangle Strategy, salt as a resource is in constant demand historically regardless of technology.

[albear]

8:49 check out those safety sandals for jackhammering.

[barrybarry-bb]

This video was educational and informative. Thanks. 👍

[Miamcoline]

Great balanced report that took into account the point of view of all stakeholders including producers, government and the environment, without holding back on the dangers of overusing this resource! Thank you for this report.

[WG]

The word "salary" does not come from a payment in salt to Romans. It comes from an additional monetary allowance given to Roman soldiers to buy salt in addition to their provisions. It then became a general term for all monetary allowances.

[mikerepairsstuff]

Great video. A very complicated topic affecting everyone’s life.

[rolandalfonso]

This was wonderful. Salt! Only you and CNBC could pull this off.

[inthezone]

Wanna Rewind's Salt vid brought me here. Great cover on salt.

[RajA-]

The salt market is immense... take that with a grain of salt 🧂 😅

[Raintiger]

Wow. . that Ohio Valley/Pennsylvania accent really comes shines through. This was a really good overview of the salt issue. A follow up for free chlorine radicals would make it more complete. I've wondered that since my university chemistry professor mentioned it to the class many many years ago.

[hbarudi]

Ocean desalination should also produce salt from the "before filter" parts of the desalination process.

[KingGeorge]

You can get all the salt you need from an average Rainbow 6 ranked game.

[Vyzard]

Nice of Bert giving his input of salt economics

[stevenjuan]

Taking the first step is the hardest, but 7 house later living off passive income since June 6, 2016. You’ve got to start taking steps to achieve your goal.