Zeolites: Cycles
A quiet price that still rose by 60% in three years
What this tab covers Price history and what drives booms and busts, including this commodity's super-cycles, the drivers behind them and the metrics to track. It charts monthly prices (World Bank) with a switch to inflation-adjusted annual prices; where there is no World Bank series it uses USGS US prices.There is no traded price. USGS reports US ex-works unit values of $50 to $300 per tonne. The average rose from $125 in 2021 to $200 in 2024. Volumes are stable rather than cyclical. US sales nearly doubled between 1995 and 2025 on feed, odour control, soil and water uses. Sales fell to a seven-year low in 2023 and then rose for two years. The swings come from competition with clays and synthetic zeolites and from a shift between markets, not from booms and busts.
US price, US average unit value, ex-works mine and mill
2021 125 2022 167 2023 157 2024 200 dollars per metric ton. USGS MCS 2026; 2025 is an estimate.Super-cycles in zeolites
Natural zeolites have no exchange price and no super-cycle. They are a cheap, local, slowly growing mineral. US production and sales nearly doubled from 1995 to 2025 as feed, odor control, soil and water uses grew. Short swings come from competition with clays and synthetic zeolites and from shifts between markets. The US average unit value has risen, from $125/t in 2021 to $200/t in 2024, while the range of individual products stayed at $50-300/t.
- 1995-2025
Long expansion as new markets (animal feed, odor control, soil amendment, water purification) grew faster than traditional pet litter declined.
US production and sales nearly doubled (USGS); product values $50-300/t (2021-2025).
- 2021-2023
US output fell and sales hit a seven-year low in 2023 as clays and synthetic zeolites competed, but unit values rose with costs.
US production 87,000 t (2021) to 74,300 t (2023); average unit value $125/t (2021), $167/t (2022), $157/t (2023) (USGS).
- 2024-2025
Sales recovered two years in a row on traction control, soil and turf uses; Bear River launched a cattle feed additive in 2024.
Average unit value $200/t (2024, USGS); Bear River average sale price $264/short ton in 2024, with a 10% rise expected for 2025 (company report).
What drives the cycle
- Livestock feed demand. Feed is 42% of US tonnage, so herd sizes and feed-additive adoption set the base.
- Water and wastewater regulation. Ammonium and metal limits create demand for ion-exchange media.
- Competition from clays and synthetics. Bentonite and synthetic zeolites take share in litter, absorbents and high-spec uses (USGS).
- Construction in Europe and Asia. Pozzolan and aggregate uses drive the large tonnages in Slovakia, Georgia, Korea and China.
- Freight cost. At $50-300/t, delivery cost limits how far zeolite can travel.
Metrics to track
| Metric | Why it matters | Where to track it |
|---|---|---|
| US natural zeolite production, sales and unit value | Only consistent price and volume series | USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (annual) |
| Bear River Zeolite quarterly output and price | A listed producer with disclosed volumes and prices | United States Antimony Corp SEC filings (quarterly) |
| US cattle inventory | Feed-additive demand | USDA NASS Cattle report (January and July) |
| European construction output | Pozzolan and aggregate demand in Slovakia, Hungary and Turkey | Eurostat, monthly production in construction |