Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Cement and Sand & gravel

Concrete is mostly aggregate held together by cement, roughly 5 to 6 tonnes of aggregate for every tonne of cement, so the two are consumed together and share the construction cycle; in India, river sand rules make aggregate supply a tighter constraint than cement.

Cement (commodity) and Sand & gravel (commodity): 4 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Used together in concrete

Physical flow · Strong · Cement and aggregates combine in concrete

Cement paste binds sand and gravel into concrete, so each cubic metre of concrete needs both, with aggregate making up most of the mass.

  • 60 to 75% aggregate share of concrete by volume
  • about 80 to 85% aggregate share of concrete by mass
  • about 15% cement share of concrete by weight

These shares imply about 5 to 6 tonnes of aggregate per tonne of cement in concrete. In the US, about 42% of construction sand and gravel went into concrete aggregates in 2025 and the rest into other construction uses such as roads and fill, so aggregate demand is broader than cement demand.

Sources: US Federal Highway Administration; USGS

2. Price link: shared demand

Cost and price · Strong · Both ways

Construction demand moves cement, sand and gravel together, and both are heavy, local products priced by regional supply.

  • 0.45 monthly change correlation
  • 0.67 12-month change correlation
  • 0.74 fitted elasticity

The indexes share yearly moves at 0.67, and 0.60 over the last five years, as US aggregate and cement producers raised prices together after the pandemic. Because both travel poorly, local shortages can push one up without the other.

Sources: Material Insights (World Bank, FRED, IMF data)

3. River sand rules in India

Policy · High in India · Sand mining rules → aggregate supply for concrete

River sand mining damages rivers, so India regulates it closely, which constrains the sand that cement-based construction needs.

  • about 700 Mt a year India's estimated sand demand, 2018
  • 6 to 7% a year growth in that demand, 2018

The environment ministry's 2016 Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines and its 2020 enforcement and monitoring guidelines call for replenishment studies, ban riverbed mining in the monsoon and use drone and night surveillance. The Mines Ministry's 2018 framework proposed manufactured sand from crushed rock, sand from coal mine overburden and imports, and suggested estimating sand demand from a normative ratio to cement use.

Sources: Engineering News; Drishti IAS (summary of MoEFCC guidelines)

4. Crushed stone and manufactured sand

Substitution · Rising · Crushed rock can replace natural sand and gravel

Crushed stone and manufactured sand do the same job as natural aggregate in concrete, so they ease the limit that sand rules place on cement use.

  • 870 Mt US construction sand and gravel output, 2025

In the US, crushed stone is often substituted for natural sand and gravel, and reserves are limited largely by land use and environmental concerns rather than geology. In India, manufactured sand was common in a few southern states in 2018 and is the main option the framework proposes.

Sources: USGS; Engineering News

For investors

Key learnings

  1. Cement and aggregates are consumed together, so the construction cycle sets demand for both.
  2. In India, permits and enforcement on river sand can slow construction even when cement is plentiful.
  3. Manufactured sand producers gain as river sand rules tighten, and cement makers with quarry assets can integrate into aggregates.

What to track

  • Cement production: Proxy for concrete and aggregate demand (Monthly · Office of the Economic Adviser, Index of Eight Core Industries)
  • State sand auction volumes and prices: Availability of river sand for construction (Monthly · state mining departments)
  • Manufactured sand capacity additions: Pace of substitution for river sand (Yearly · state policies, industry reports)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. Sand supply is a constraint on housing and infrastructure plans, not only an environmental issue.
  2. Linking sand demand estimates to cement use, as the Mines Ministry framework suggests, helps states plan permits.
  3. Manufactured sand and overburden sand reduce pressure on rivers if quality standards are enforced.

What to track

  • District survey reports and replenishment studies completed: Compliance with sand mining guidelines (Yearly · state mining departments, MoEFCC)
  • Share of manufactured sand in state supply: Progress away from river sand (Yearly · state policies)

India

India's sand demand was estimated at about 700 Mt a year in 2018 and growing 6 to 7% a year; river sand mining is governed by the 2016 and 2020 guidelines, and the Mines Ministry promotes manufactured sand to fill the gap.

Sources

  1. Portland cement concrete: appendix on concrete materials (FHWA-RD-97-148), US Federal Highway Administration
  2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Sand and Gravel (Construction), USGS (2026)
  3. Indian sand mining framework suggests manufactured sand and imports to bridge supply gap, Engineering News (2018)
  4. Guidelines to monitor sand mining, Drishti IAS (summary of MoEFCC guidelines) (2020)
  5. Price correlation, Material Insights, Material Insights (World Bank, FRED, IMF data)