RITTMAN, Ohio — If you’ve been combing stores or noticing more icy patches this winter, you’re not alone. The irony of a salt shortage in Northeast Ohio has not been lost on those familiar with the region’s salt mining industry.
“I’m very [surprised], especially because we have a salt mine right here in Cleveland,” Kelly Neal told News 5 Tuesday.
He and other customers scrambled to find enough salt for their homes and sidewalks.
RELATED: Winter weather puts strain on Northeast Ohio's salt supply
The story garnered similar comments on multiple platforms.
“How is there no salt in Cleveland when it has one of the biggest salt mines in America?” one Instagram follower asked.
A TikTok user also pondered, “We have a Morton Salt plant in our town that produces salt for food and whatnot but we can’t get road salt?”
Over the weekend, Rittman announced supply chain issues were forcing the city to reserve its road salt for intersections and hills.
“This last week, they’ve been pretty crappy,” Rittman neighbor Connie Snyder said of the roads. “Everybody’s like, ‘Well how can we be out of salt when Morton Salt is right down on Salt Street?’”
Morton Salt is one of the town’s largest employers. However, the local facility mainly produces medicinal products and table salt.
Road salt does come from a Morton salt mine beneath Lake Erie in Fairport Harbor. Down the lakeshore, Cargill also operates a similar facility in Cleveland.
“We’d like to think of the supply as being pretty plentiful - having large salt mines right under Lake Erie, right off the coast here in Cleveland - but we also have to think of salt as this global market,” said Jonathan Ernest, an economics professor at Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.
He explained that even a region rich in natural salt deposits has to compete with other buyers, many of whom have experienced skyrocketing demand.
“We produce a lot of salt, but we don’t use it all here. We send it to other states in the Great Lakes region,” Ernest said.
Morton Salt did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday and Thursday.
Cargill said it’s keeping up with demand as best it can. The company issued the following statements to News 5:
“Our production facilities and our supply chains have been running strong. We are working overtime to ensure salt is available where it is needed. At Cargill, the safety of our employees and the communities where we work and live is our number one priority.
“There are a number of factors that have led to demand outpacing supply in some locations. After a series of lighter winters the weather turned very quickly. All producers are moving salt to where it is needed as quickly as possible. Back-to-back storms in multiple states strain all parts of the process. Salt suppliers prepare for this kind of weather and work hard to deliver as quickly as possible when it does snow.”
Ernest said Northeast Ohio’s proximity to salt mines doesn’t necessarily give the region priority over other communities and clients.
“I would say we’re reasonably well-positioned, but not to the extent that if we need salt tomorrow we can just go out with some shovels under the lake, dig it up and toss it on the roads,” he said.
He explained that various factors contribute when supply may catch up with demand, including cooperation from Mother Nature.
Neighbors said they’re hopeful spring is around the corner.
“I can’t wait. I don’t even come out unless I have to,” said Snyder.
