Salt supplies need to be sorted

摘要

The UK is not self-sufficient in de-icing salt and, as a result, is importing 250,000 tonnes of salt for this winter. It is not the amount of salt held underground in the UK, it is the ability to dig it out and get it delivered to all customers on time when a particularly harsh winter strikes. Importing salt is one answer, but this raises the question of whether the salt is of a high enough quality to not need special storage. Salt 'on order' is of little help if, when temperatures drop below zero for several consecutive days, it is not immediately available to highways authorities and their contractors.