Salt prices that was Rs 200 per tonne before the cyclone have now zoomed to an all time high of Rs 350 and a further rise is not ruled out, traders said. Besides, prices of caustic soda and soda ash has also risen steeply. Caustic soda shot up to Rs 750 a tonne from Rs 725 and soda ash has gone up by Rs 100 at Rs 600 per tonne. The country is likely to face a shortage in the domestic salt supplies owing to severe damage caused in the Kutch and Saurashtra regions.

According to preliminary estimates, the cyclone washed away about 30 lakh tonnes of salt from the area.

The total salt production in the country during the current year was estimated to be in the region of 120 to 125 lakh tonnes, with the monsoon was expected to be normal as in the last two years. This estimate may have to be revised downward due to the unexpected heavy rains that lashed thestate causing severe damage to the salt works.

Gujarat accounts for 70 per cent of the country's total salt production. The state had produced 104.03 lakh tonnes of salt as against the total domestic production of 144.96 lakh tonnes in 1996.

Kutch suffered the most while losses in the Saurashtra region were realtively lower. According to PM Kavadia, president of the Indian Salt Manufacturers' Association (ISMA), Kutch lost half its average production of 15 lakh tonnes of salt, while Saurashtra damage was a third of its 22-25-lakh tonnes of salt production. Thus, the combined loss of salt due to the cyclone works out to whopping 15 lakh tonnes which is 13 per cent of the total production.

Moreover, due to the unexpected heavy rains, additional salt production during the year has come to a grinding halt which translates into further fall in production to the tune of about 15-20 lakh tonnes.

Thus, the total loss of salt will be in the range of 30-35 lakh tonnes and it will take at least another sixmonths to recover the losses caused by the natural calamity.