Gypsum: Trading
Why so much gypsum never reaches an open market
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. Much gypsum is mined by the wallboard and cement companies that use it, so it never trades at arm's length. Synthetic gypsum moves under long-term offtake contracts between power utilities and nearby wallboard plants. Seaborne gypsum from Spain, Mexico, Oman and Thailand is sold under bilateral contracts. Industrial-minerals price services publish indicative prices. Tilton and Guzman put world gypsum sales at about $2.2 billion in 2014, small for such a large tonnage.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Cement plants and board makers in the US (12.3% of world import value, 2024), India (12.0%), Nigeria (8.3%), Japan (5.9%), Canada and UK (5.2% each) (Comtrade)
- Indian cement makers buying Omani gypsum on term contracts
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Oman (13.3% of world export value, 2024), Thailand (12.8%), Germany (12.3%), Spain (11.9%), France (6.3%), Egypt (4.9%) (Comtrade)
- US imports came from Spain (38%), Mexico (30%) and Canada (28%) in 2021-24 (USGS)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No futures | Bilateral contracts; prices set per tonne FOB quarry or CFR port |
Contract types
- Annual or multi-year supply contracts between quarry owners and cement or board makers
- Bulk vessel cargoes FOB Oman, Spain or Thailand
- Long-term offtake of FGD gypsum from power plants
Top trading houses
- Mostly direct sales by quarry owners and board makers; no major commodity trader dominates
How prices are discovered
- USGS annual unit values (crude f.o.b. mine, calcined f.o.b. plant)
- Indian Bureau of Mines mineral prices (monthly)
- Trade data unit values (Comtrade, DGCIS)