Sand & gravel: Movement
Too heavy to ship, so little ever crosses a border
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 sand trades under HS 2505.90 and gravel under HS 2517.10. Tilton notes that sand and gravel are widely available but expensive to ship, so little crosses borders. The US imported 4 million t in 2025, about 90% of it from Canada over 2021-24. The exception is land reclamation. Conway records that Singapore, the leading importer, reported about 600 million t of sand imports in 2000-20. Exporting countries reported only 280 million t, leaving a large unexplained gap. Indonesia, a major supplier, has said dredging and sand mining cost it several islands.
No distinct HS trade code for this commodity, so trade flows are not charted.