Silica sand: Movement

Why Singapore imports so much sand

What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.

Natural sands (HS 2505) traded about $2.41 billion of exports in 2024, though this code mixes industrial and construction sand. The United States led with 37.7% of value, ahead of the Netherlands (10.3%) and Cambodia (9.1%). Singapore was the top importer at 13.6%, largely for land reclamation (Conway), followed by Canada (12.7%) and China (12.5%). Conway notes desert Dubai imports sand from Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. Indonesia's 2014 raw-mineral export ban also covered sand (Pitron).

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024. Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

Natural sands · HS 2505

World exports 2024 $2.41 bn sum of 40 reporting countries World imports 2024 $2.30 bn sum of 40 reporting countries Top exporters, share of value United States 37.7% Netherlands 10.3% Cambodia 9.1% Germany 6.7% Belgium 4.4% Mozambique 4.3% Top importers, share of value Singapore 13.6% Canada 12.7% China 12.5% Belgium 7% Netherlands 6% Taiwan (Other Asia, nes) 3.9% UN Comtrade, reporter declarations to the world, US$. Exports and imports are reported separately, so totals differ. Re-exporting hubs (Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, UAE) can appear large.