# Garnet: Cycles How one mine's stockpile sank the 2025 price Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/cycles/ How one mine's stockpile sank the 2025 price What this tab covers Price history and what drives booms and busts, including this commodity's super-cycles, the drivers behind them and the metrics to track. It charts monthly prices (World Bank) with a switch to inflation-adjusted annual prices; where there is no World Bank series it uses USGS US prices. Garnet has no benchmark price. The US import unit value swung from $280/t in 2021 to $194/t in 2022, then $270/t in 2024 and $170/t in 2025. The 39% fall in 2025 coincided with heavy shipments of previously mined South African stock. Domestic crude concentrate fetched about $220/t. Demand follows shipbuilding, metal fabrication and oil and gas drilling, which uses garnet to clean pipe and as a proppant. The US rig count fell 6% in 2025. #### US price, Garnet, average US import unit value 2021 280 2022 194 2023 211 2024 270 2025 170 dollars per metric ton. USGS MCS 2026; 2025 is an estimate. #### Super-cycles in garnet Garnet has no exchange price and no classic super-cycle; its swings come from supply shocks in a market with few producers. India's private beach-sand industry was a large exporter until court orders and atomic-mineral rules shut it between 2013 and 2019. Australia and China filled the gap. In the 2020s, US import prices have swung with one-off flows: the average import unit value fell from $280/t (2021) to $194/t (2022), recovered to $270/t (2024), then dropped to $170/t (2025) as South African stocks were sold after its mine shut. 1. 2000-2013 Private miners in Tamil Nadu expanded beach-sand mining for garnet, ilmenite and zircon, mining about 900,000 t of garnet in 2000-2008, well above legal limits, and India became a large garnet exporter. No price series in the sources used 2. 2013-2019 The National Green Tribunal (2013), a 2016 ban on private mining of sand with over 0.75% monazite, and a February 2019 rule reserving atomic minerals to government agencies ended private beach-sand mining. Australian and Chinese supply grew to fill the gap. No price series; Indian output fell to 8,182 t by 2021-22 (IBM) 3. 2021-2022 US imports nearly doubled to 268,000 t in 2022 and the average import value fell; USGS gives no reason. US import unit value $280/t (2021) to $194/t (2022) (USGS) 4. 2024-2026 South Africa's garnet mine suspended operations in November 2024 because of debts; its stockpiles flooded the US market in 2025, lifting US imports 37%. New Australian supply is planned at Port Gregory (PFS July 2026). US import unit value $270/t (2024) to $170/t (2025), down 39%; US crude concentrate about $220/t (USGS) #### What drives the cycle - **Oil, gas and shipbuilding activity.** Blasting and pipe cleaning are the largest uses. - **Manufacturing and waterjet installations.** Waterjet cutting is a steady, growing outlet. - **Indian beach-sand policy.** Reopening or tightening of Indian supply changes world balances. - **Few large suppliers.** Australia, China and the US mined 97% of 2025 output, so one mine closure moves the market. - **Silica dust regulation.** Favours garnet over silica sand in blasting. #### Metrics to track | Metric | Why it matters | Where to track it | |---|---|---| | **US garnet imports and unit value** | Best public price signal | USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries | | **US rig count** | Oil and gas garnet demand | Baker Hughes weekly rig count | | **Indian garnet output and exports** | Effect of beach-sand policy | IBM Indian Minerals Yearbook; Ministry of Mines notifications | | **New supply projects** | Port Gregory and others | ASX announcements (Heavy Minerals Ltd) | | **Major producer news** | Capacity and pricing | GMA Garnet news | ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/overview/index.md) - [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/correlation/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/stocks/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/links/index.md)