# Lime: Trading

Contracts tied to fuel costs, delivered straight from kilns

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/trading/

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 benchmark. Lime is sold under annual or multi-year contracts, which may include fuel-cost adjustments, to steel mills, utilities and municipalities. A few regional producers serve each market, and supply is frequently delivered by truck or rail straight from the kiln. Some plants are built at the customer's site. Captive kilns at sugar, pulp and steel plants take a share out of the open market altogether.

#### Where it is bought (buyers)

- Steel mills, chemical plants, power plants, water utilities and mines within a few hundred kilometres
- Seaborne importers: Netherlands (7.8% of world import value, 2024), Indonesia (7.4%, nickel processing), Chile (7.1%, copper and lithium), India (6.4%), France (5.9%), Finland (5.8%) (Comtrade)

#### Where it is sold (sellers)

- Regional producers: Carmeuse, Lhoist, Graymont, Mississippi Lime and captive kilns
- Exporters: Germany (13.4% of world export value, 2024), France (12.7%), Malaysia (5.7%), Belgium (5.2%), China (5.1%), UK (4.2%) (Comtrade)

#### Exchanges and benchmarks

| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **None** | No futures | Prices set in annual or multi-year supply contracts |

#### Contract types

- Multi-year supply contracts with fuel and index escalators
- Captive production by steel, sugar and paper companies
- Spot truck sales of hydrated lime for construction

#### Top trading houses

- None of note; producers sell directly

#### How prices are discovered

- USGS annual average value at plant
- Contract prices negotiated with steel and chemical buyers (not published)
- Trade unit values (Comtrade)

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/correlation/index.md)
- [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/extraction/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/cycles/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lime/links/index.md)