Asbestos: Trading
How longer fibres command higher prices in private deals
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.There is no exchange or public benchmark. Chrysotile is sold by a few state-linked or private miners in Russia, Kazakhstan, China and Brazil under bilateral contracts. Fibre grades set price, with longer fibres worth more. Buyers are mainly asbestos-cement makers in Asia. Trade is shaped by politics as much as economics. Yergin recounts that Armand Hammer held an asbestos concession in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, an early example of Western traders doing deals in Russian minerals.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Asbestos-cement sheet and pipe makers in India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, China and Central Asia
- Remaining chloralkali diaphragm users (US plants drew on stockpiles in 2025)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Russian miners ship by rail and sea; Russia supplied 63% of India's 2020-21 imports (IBM)
- Kostanay Minerals exports about 95% of output to Uzbekistan, India, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam and others
- Brazil's single producer sells for export only; it supplied 100% of US imports in 2021-24 (USGS)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No futures or exchange contract | All trade is bilateral |
Contract types
- Direct producer contracts by fibre grade (length group)
- CFR or FOB bagged cargoes
- Rail deliveries to Central Asia
Top trading houses
- No major trading houses; producers sell direct or through agents
How prices are discovered
- Bilateral negotiation
- Customs unit values (US Census via USGS, India DGCIS via IBM)
- No price reporting agency benchmark