Sand & gravel: Trading
Why the pit nearest the job usually wins
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.Sand and gravel have no exchange and no benchmark. Prices are set pit by pit, quoted per tonne at the gate, with trucking added. Trucking costs climb quickly with distance, so the pit nearest the job usually wins. Large aggregates firms build regional networks of pits, quarries and rail-served yards. Small family pits fill the gaps. Long-term supply contracts tie public road agencies and ready-mix plants to specific sources that meet their specifications.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Ready-mix concrete and precast plants, asphalt plants and earthworks contractors within trucking distance
- Land-reclamation projects (Singapore, Gulf states, Maldives)
- In India, builders buy through state-licensed contractors, M-sand crushers and sand depots
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Local pit operators and integrated aggregates firms (Vulcan, Martin Marietta, CRH, Heidelberg Materials)
- US imports, 90% from Canada (2021-24, USGS)
- Marine dredging firms in the North Sea; Indonesia historically supplied much of Singapore's reclamation sand (Conway 2023)
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No futures | Prices are local, set per tonne at the pit plus haulage |
Contract types
- Spot sales at the pit gate
- Project supply contracts for roads and buildings
- Government auctions of sand blocks and M-sand plots (India)
Top trading houses
- None of note; supply is local and vertically integrated
How prices are discovered
- USGS average unit values
- Listed producers' average selling prices
- State-notified sand rates and e-auction results in India