Chlorine Prices Have Been On The Rise

90 Degree days are arriving and chlorine prices are on the rise.

Pool and Spa Depot Retail Manager Kenna Quaderer said prices have increased by 20 percent on average over the last year. She said a major reason is a fire that occurred in 2020 at a chemical plant in Louisiana that the industry has only recently begun feeling the effects of.

“Half to a third of the manufacturing chemicals came from that plant and it completely got wiped out,” Quaderer said. “So now other manufacturers are having to kind of take the brunt of that manufacturer not being able to manufacture the chlorine anymore.”

Quaderer said supply and demand have also led to the increase. She said more people bought pools in the past three years than in years prior, and that trend should continue this summer as well.

“The industry realizes that there are more pools being built, so that means more chemical sales,” Quaderer said. “Bigger revenue to be able to kind of increase the pricing.”

Quaderer said she has not seen the rising prices have much of an effect on business because chlorine is such a necessary part of keeping a pool clean. She said there is an alternative chlorine-free pool cleaner, but prices of that have increased as well.

Quaderer said because the pool business has remained so steady, she does not see the prices decreasing any time soon.

“The only way the prices would decrease is if people weren’t buying,” Quaderer said. “But since people are buying at the cost that they are now, I don’t see any reason why a manufacturer would decrease the pricing if they’re still selling the amount that they would be.”

Quaderer said she does believe prices will increase much more either. She said she expects they will stay consistent where they are now.