European salt production capacities are estimated at approximately 90 million tonnes per year (including producers using salt only for the purposes of their own chemical production, such as Solvay and Dow Chemical). The largest producer in Europe operating in the free market is Esco from the K+S Group, with capacities of more than 9 million tonnes per year and production plants in several countries of Western Europe. Other companies with large production capacities (above 5 million tonnes per year) include a Ukrainian company, Artyomsol (7.5 million tonnes per year; capacities used recently to a small extent) and a chemical concern, Akzo Nobel (6.6 million tonnes per year).
Due to advantages of evaporated salt with regards to quality parameters, chemical industry in Western Europe abandoned using of rock salt. A similar process occurred in food and households industries. Rock salt is presently used primarily in highway maintenance for winter de-icing. Evaporated salt, on the other hand, is widely used in chemical industry (electrolysis, detergent and dye production) as well as water treatment and softening. It is also used in food industry (including: baking, fruit and vegetable processing and meat industry). Evaporated salt of pharmacological purity grade is also used in pharmaceutical industry.