A national shortage of rock salt – a common product used to treat roads during icy weather – is causing issues across the winter-weary U.S.

In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency because of the national shortage that’s impacting that state. Similar shortages have been reported across the northeast, including the central and northern parts of Pennsylvania.

According to American Rock Salt, operators of the largest salt mine in the country, the shortages are the result of a “very difficult winter” stressing the supply chain.

“In 2024, American Rock Salt shipped 1.8 million tons of salt for the entirety of the winter season; this winter through January 2025 alone we have already shipped over 2.1 million tons of salt. In total, we have mined and shipped more salt so far this winter than all of last year. Municipalities have acknowledged that in some instances they have already used the level of salt in 2025 compared to the level they used for the entire winter season of 2024. Regardless, we are prioritizing resources and deliveries to ensure no one runs out of supply,” the company said in a statement.

The historic demand, the company added, was due to long stretches of cold weather impacting events where the constantly low temperatures require salting roads for even very small snowfall events.

“This trend is consistent throughout the Northeast and across the nation as even parts of Florida have experienced snowfall this winter. We are operating under the assumption that this strong demand will continue throughout the remainder of the 2025 winter season,” American Rock Salt added.

New York’s state of emergency is designed to facilitate emergency deliveries of the product, including waiving “hours of service” requirements for drivers delivering the product.