Zeolites: Trading
Sold privately, product by product, with no benchmark
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.Natural zeolites are sold by producers directly to feed mills, litter brands, water-treatment firms and distributors under private contracts. No exchange or benchmark exists. Price varies with the share of zeolite in the rock, the mineral species, particle size, activation and end use, so products are differentiated. Most material is sold close to the mine because value per tonne is low and freight quickly dominates. Industrial-minerals journals publish occasional indicative ranges.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Feed mixers, farm suppliers, water-treatment firms and odor-control brands buy bagged or bulk product
- Cement makers in Europe and Asia buy zeolitic tuff as pozzolan
Where it is sold (sellers)
- Seven US mines in six States sell mostly domestically (US trade under 1,000 t)
- Slovak, Georgian, Turkish, Hungarian and Russian producers sell regionally
- Korean, Chinese and Indonesian producers supply domestic construction and farm markets
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| None | No futures or exchange contract | All trade is bilateral |
Contract types
- Bagged and bulk sales by grade (particle size, cation exchange capacity)
- Annual supply contracts with feed and water-treatment customers
- Retail packaged products
Top trading houses
- No trading houses; producers sell direct or through distributors
How prices are discovered
- Producer price lists and contracts
- USGS average unit values; listed-company disclosures (Bear River)