WE Soda said it will transition mining at its Westvaco facility near Green River, Wyoming, from dry ore underground mining to solution mining over approximately the next two years, and cut its Wyoming workforce in stages from more than 850 roles today to approximately 500. The reductions begin in the first quarter of 2027 and continue through 2028. The company has begun discussions with the United Steelworkers union and issued the formal notices required under United States law.
Wyoming production is expected to fall by more than 1.5 million metric tons a year as a result. WE Soda will reduce sales to export markets and focus on the United States, Canada and Mexico for soda ash, while continuing to supply specialty products customers globally. Where it makes commercial sense, export customers will be supplied from its operations in Turkiye instead.
Chief executive Alasdair Warren said low cost Chinese exports, together with the high cost of producing, transporting and shipping soda ash from Wyoming, have fundamentally changed the economics of exports from the region, and that the response requires structural change to preserve the operations. Local union leadership has reacted sharply: United Steelworkers Local 13214 president Marshal Cummings said members had expected a reduction of about 40 positions and were told of the scale of the cuts shortly before the announcement became public.
The transition is staged. Westvaco’s monohydrate plant will stop processing mined ore and run on brine, while a reduced underground operation continues to supply the sesquicarbonate plant, which produces mainly specialty products, until that plant can run on brine alone. Solution mining and surface processing at Granger and Westvaco, and the sodium bicarbonate and specialty units at Westvaco, continue to operate. WE Soda said 2027 will be a year of transition with lower volumes and one off restructuring costs, with a further update due alongside third quarter results on November 25, 2026.