Peat: Trading
Branded growing media sold to greenhouses and garden shops
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.Peat has no exchange or price-reporting benchmark. Large horticultural-substrate companies in Canada, the Baltic states, Germany and the Netherlands harvest, blend and sell branded growing media. They sell to greenhouse growers on annual contracts, and to retailers in bags. Prices depend on peat type, fibre structure and added nutrients. Energy peat in Finland, Belarus and Russia is sold to power and heat plants under supply contracts, a market that is shrinking.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Greenhouse and nursery growers and growing-media blenders in the US (26.3% of world import value, 2024), Netherlands (9.6%), China (8.0%), Germany (5.8%), France (5.2%), Italy (4.4%) (Comtrade)
- Power and heat plants in Finland and Belarus for fuel peat
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Canada (25.4% of world export value, 2024), Latvia (20.4%), Estonia (11.6%), Netherlands (10.8%), Germany (9.5%), Lithuania (6.1%) (Comtrade)
- US imports come 95% from Canada (USGS)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No futures | Prices are per cubic metre or tonne in annual supply contracts |
Contract types
- Annual supply contracts between growing-media firms and growers
- Bulk shipments of baled peat by sea from the Baltics
- Long-term fuel supply contracts with heat and power plants
Top trading houses
- None of note; integrated peat and substrate companies sell directly
How prices are discovered
- USGS average unit value
- Trade data unit values (Comtrade)
- Company price lists