Sodium bromate is mainly used in continuous or batch dyeing processes involving sulfur or vat dyes and as a hair-permagent, chemical agent, or gold solvent in gold mines when used with sodium bromide.

Sodium bromate can be produced from a solution of sodium carbonate and bromine using chlorine gas as the oxidising agent.

[1] It may also be produced by the electrolytic oxidation of aqueous sodium bromide.

[2] Bromate in drinking water is undesirable because it is a suspected human carcinogen.

[3][4] Its presence in Coca-Cola's Dasani bottled water forced a recall of that product in the UK.