Abstract: In addition to an organic solvent (B), an inorganic metal compound (C), and water as component (D), a sulfonate composition disclosed in the present invention contains a compound (A) represented by ROOC—(CH2)p—CH(SO3M)—CH2—(CH2)q—COOR?, where M represents a cation, R and R? independently represent a group selected from an alkyl group with 10 carbons and an alkenyl group with 10 carbons, p and q each represent a number of 0 to 18, and a total of p and q is 0 to 18. The mass ratios of components (A), (B), (C), and (D) to the total content of the components (A)-(D) are as follows: 0.05?A/(A+B+C+D)?0.71, B/(A+B+C+D)?0.05, C/(A+B+C+D)>0, and 0.10<D/(A+B+C+D)<0.60.