Finer than gravel but coarser than silt, sand is material comprised of finely granulated rock and mineral particles. Sand is also defined as a textural class of soil that contains more than 85% sand-sized particles by mass.
Sand has a high variety of uses. Sandy soils are ideal for agricultural crops such as watermelons, peaches and peanuts. Sand is also added to clay in the manufacture of bricks, while silica from sand is a key component of glass. Mixing sand with cement and lime is often used in masonry construction, and sand can be mixed with paint to create a textured finish for walls, ceilings and non-slip floor surfaces.
Among continents, Europe sold the highest dollar worth of exported sands during 2019 with shipments valued at $734.1 million or 44% of the global total. In second place were North American exporters generating 30.2% while 13.7% of worldwide sand shipments originated from Asia. Smaller percentages came from Oceania (6%) led by Australia, Africa (5.5%) then Latin America (0.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 2505 for natural sands of all kinds except gold- and platinum-bearing sands. Drilling down to the more detailed 6-digit codes, well over two-thirds (71.3%) of overall exported sand in 2019 was silica and quartz sands. This compares with over a fourth (28.7%) for all other natural sands.
Top Sand Exports by Country
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of sand during 2019.
- United States: US$461.3 million (27.7% of total sand exports)
- Netherlands: $225.6 million (13.5%)
- Germany: $133.4 million (8%)
- Belgium: $120 million (7.2%)
- Australia: $97.9 million (5.9%)
- France: $53.8 million (3.2%)
- Egypt: $41.6 million (2.5%)
- Saudi Arabia: $38.6 million (2.3%)
- Taiwan: $36.6 million (2.2%)
- Malaysia: $32.3 million (1.9%)
- Vietnam: $30.5 million (1.8%)
- Canada: $28.4 million (1.7%)
- Mozambique: $25.4 million (1.5%)
- United Kingdom: $23.3 million (1.4%)
- Portugal: $22.9 million (1.4%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 82.3% of global sand exported in 2019.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing sand exporters since 2015 were: Mozambique (up 292.4%), Portugal (up 161.4%), Netherlands (up 104.7%) and Malaysia (up 103.9%).
Advantages
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for sand during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported sand and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- United States: US$396.7 million (net export surplus up 28.3% since 2015)
- Australia: $96.1 million (up 44.3%)
- Netherlands: $73.6 million (up 428.1%)
- Germany: $45.3 million (down -19.2%)
- Egypt: $40.4 million (up 74.7%)
- Saudi Arabia: $34.7 million (up 44%)
- Vietnam: $27.5 million (up 55.6%)
- Mozambique: $24.8 million (up 334.3%)
- Cambodia: $20.9 million (up 1,615%)
- Tunisia: $18.2 million (up 5299.4%)
- Myanmar (Burma): $17.4 million (reversing a -$2.3 million deficit)
- Portugal: $15 million (up 329.8%)
- Bulgaria: $14.2 million (up 0.7%)
- Malaysia: $13.5 million (up 55.6%)
- Denmark: $9.8 million (down -17.7%)
The United States of America earned the highest surplus in the international trade of sand. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms America’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Opportunities
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for sand during 2019. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported sand purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Canada: -US$209.2 million (net export deficit up 27.1% since 2015)
- China: -$158.9 million (reversing an $8.2 million surplus)
- Japan: -$85.2 million (up 17.4%)
- Hong Kong: -$78.4 million (up 143.9%)
- Mexico: -$63.2 million (up 2.7%)
- Italy: -$60.4 million (up 26.9%)
- South Korea: -$55.6 million (up 11.4%)
- Switzerland: -$46.7 million (down -10.5%)
- Turkey: -$37.9 million (up 72.7%)
- Taiwan: -$36.3 million (down -45%)
- Singapore: -$35.6 million (down -71.4%)
- Luxembourg: -$26 million (up 3.7%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$21.6 million (down -42.1%)
- Austria: -$17.5 million (up 226.2%)
- India: -$17.1 million (up 5595%)
Overtaking Singapore in 2019, Canada incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of sand. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights Canada’s competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for sand-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful demand.
Companies
Sand Exporting Companies
Below are sand stock companies located in the United States that represent established players engaged in the international trade of sand. The home country for each is shown within parenthesis.
- Emerge Energy
- Fairmount Santrol
- Hi-Crush
- US Silica
According to global trading platform Alibaba, the following suppliers are also examples of sand-trading exporters. The home-country location for each business is shown within parentheses.
- BMS Factories (Saudi Arabia)
- Cairo Fresh for Import/Export (Egypt)
- Franzavian Import/Export (Philippines)
- Lingshou County Zhongrun Minerals (China)
- Noebel Ventures LLC (United States)
- Ploma Enterprise Co (Taiwan)
- Qaim Rasoul Import/Expor Co (Cambodia)
- UNELO (France)
- VietGo Company (Vietnam)
- Wamenya Trading (Netherlands)
Searchable List of Sand Exporting Countries in 2019
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry of 0% in the right-most column means that 2018 was not available.
| Rank | Exporter | Sand Exports (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | United States | $461,287,000 | -13.2% |
| 2. | Netherlands | $225,571,000 | +10.2% |
| 3. | Germany | $133,408,000 | -13.8% |
| 4. | Belgium | $120,019,000 | -13.2% |
| 5. | Australia | $97,949,000 | -3.6% |
| 6. | France | $53,779,000 | -1.6% |
| 7. | Egypt | $41,613,000 | +27.7% |
| 8. | Saudi Arabia | $38,634,000 | -1.9% |
| 9. | Taiwan | $36,556,000 | +19.2% |
| 10. | Malaysia | $32,333,000 | +242% |
| 11. | Vietnam | $30,487,000 | +200.7% |
| 12. | Canada | $28,429,000 | -10.2% |
| 13. | Mozambique | $25,370,000 | +1.4% |
| 14. | United Kingdom | $23,343,000 | +27.6% |
| 15. | Portugal | $22,872,000 | +21% |
| 16. | Cambodia | $20,952,000 | +157.2% |
| 17. | Spain | $19,098,000 | -14.2% |
| 18. | Tunisia | $18,553,000 | -3.2% |
| 19. | Myanmar (Burma) | $17,649,000 | +4,357% |
| 20. | Poland | $16,060,000 | -11.4% |
| 21. | Bulgaria | $15,334,000 | +9.1% |
| 22. | Mexico | $14,370,000 | -9.5% |
| 23. | Czech Republic | $13,487,000 | +3.9% |
| 24. | Italy | $13,124,000 | -15.1% |
| 25. | Denmark | $13,073,000 | -6.9% |
| 26. | Hong Kong | $12,632,000 | +365.6% |
| 27. | Norway | $10,362,000 | -53.7% |
| 28. | Sweden | $9,528,000 | +1.9% |
| 29. | Austria | $8,840,000 | +8.4% |
| 30. | China | $8,644,000 | +13.9% |
| 31. | Philippines | $7,845,000 | +120.6% |
| 32. | Turkey | $7,832,000 | +28.5% |
| 33. | Hungary | $5,114,000 | -8.3% |
| 34. | Russia | $4,742,000 | +1.7% |
| 35. | Ukraine | $4,218,000 | -36% |
| 36. | Serbia | $4,009,000 | +9.3% |
| 37. | Slovakia | $3,810,000 | +11.2% |
| 38. | Romania | $3,042,000 | +54.3% |
| 39. | South Africa | $2,448,000 | +58.5% |
| 40. | Japan | $2,446,000 | -26.3% |
| 41. | Israel | $2,409,000 | +38.2% |
| 42. | Laos | $2,397,000 | +239,600% |
| 43. | Kazakhstan | $2,381,000 | -11.4% |
| 44. | Slovenia | $2,125,000 | -33.2% |
| 45. | Montserrat | $2,061,000 | +48.2% |
| 46. | Ireland | $1,813,000 | +47.9% |
| 47. | Brazil | $1,750,000 | -61.8% |
| 48. | South Korea | $1,541,000 | -20.5% |
| 49. | New Zealand | $1,314,000 | +16.4% |
| 50. | Nigeria | $1,198,000 | +371.7% |
| 51. | Switzerland | $1,119,000 | +192.2% |
| 52. | Guatemala | $1,117,000 | +61.4% |
| 53. | Peru | $1,103,000 | +10.9% |
| 54. | Lithuania | $1,079,000 | -20.8% |
| 55. | Finland | $1,073,000 | -49.2% |
| 56. | Croatia | $1,052,000 | +172.5% |
| 57. | Bangladesh | $1,009,000 | -34.2% |
| 58. | Belarus | $966,000 | +68.3% |
| 59. | Guyana | $937,000 | -51.5% |
| 60. | Morocco | $890,000 | -17.3% |
| 61. | Thailand | $888,000 | -14.9% |
| 62. | Bahamas | $788,000 | -27.1% |
| 63. | Costa Rica | $628,000 | -16% |
| 64. | Zambia | $537,000 | +597.4% |
| 65. | Argentina | $518,000 | +85.7% |
| 66. | Dominica | $517,000 | +538.3% |
| 67. | India | $512,000 | -60.4% |
| 68. | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $511,000 | +57.7% |
| 69. | Singapore | $404,000 | -38.1% |
| 70. | Chile | $393,000 | -37.5% |
| 71. | Luxembourg | $370,000 | -59.3% |
| 72. | Georgia | $327,000 | -91.8% |
| 73. | Latvia | $322,000 | -2.1% |
| 74. | Namibia | $296,000 | +107% |
| 75. | Greece | $265,000 | -61.4% |
| 76. | Colombia | $256,000 | -88.8% |
| 77. | Andorra | $224,000 | 0% |
| 78. | Jordan | $216,000 | -99.2% |
| 79. | Faroe Islands | $171,000 | -4.5% |
| 80. | United Arab Emirates | $139,000 | -97.9% |
| 81. | Iran | $113,000 | -86.2% |
| 82. | North Macedonia | $102,000 | +1% |
| 83. | Pakistan | $85,000 | -98.9% |
| 84. | Kyrgyzstan | $83,000 | +29.7% |
| 85. | Uzbekistan | $69,000 | -89.5% |
| 86. | Estonia | $63,000 | -83% |
| 87. | Somalia | $57,000 | +5,600% |
| 88. | Dominican Republic | $33,000 | -97.3% |
| 89. | Mauritius | $28,000 | +1,300% |
| 90. | Panama | $23,000 | -90.8% |
| 91. | Ecuador | $22,000 | +1,000% |
| 92. | Tanzania | $21,000 | -95.9% |
| 93. | Niue | $18,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Senegal | $17,000 | -41.4% |
| 95. | Ghana | $15,000 | +650% |
| 96. | Sri Lanka | $13,000 | -90.8% |
| 97. | Angola | $10,000 | -63% |
| 98. | Albania | $10,000 | 0% |
| 99. | Gabon | $10,000 | +66.7% |
| 100. | Ivory Coast | $10,000 | +233.3% |
| 101. | Kenya | $8,000 | -95.3% |
| 102. | Qatar | $8,000 | -61.9% |
| 103. | Bahrain | $8,000 | -71.4% |
| 104. | Palau | $7,000 | 0% |
| 105. | Lesotho | $7,000 | -30% |
| 106. | Indonesia | $6,000 | +500% |
| 107. | French Polynesia | $5,000 | -72.2% |
| 108. | Trinidad/Tobago | $5,000 | -89.6% |
| 109. | Guinea | $4,000 | +300% |
| 110. | Cuba | $3,000 | +50% |
| 111. | Ethiopia | $3,000 | +200% |
| 112. | Eritrea | $3,000 | +50% |
| 113. | Kuwait | $3,000 | -97% |
| 114. | Mauritania | $3,000 | -98.3% |
| 115. | Turkmenistan | $3,000 | 0% |
| 116. | El Salvador | $2,000 | -50% |
| 117. | Democr. Rep. Congo | $2,000 | -92.3% |
| 118. | Cameroon | $2,000 | 0% |
| 119. | Chad | $1,000 | 0% |
| 120. | Central African Rep | $1,000 | 0% |
| 121. | Botswana | $1,000 | 0% |
| 122. | Algeria | $1,000 | -50% |
| 123. | Barbados | $1,000 | 0% |
| 124. | Congo | $1,000 | 0% |
| 125. | Iraq | $1,000 | -50% |
| 126. | Nicaragua | $1,000 | 0% |
| 127. | Togo | $1,000 | 0% |
| 128. | Zimbabwe | $1,000 | 0% |
| 129. | Suriname | $1,000 | -95.7% |
| 130. | Eswatini | $1,000 | -90% |
| 131. | Uruguay | $1,000 | 0% |
See also Top Gravel Exporters by Country, Cement Exports by Country, Iron Ore Exports by Country and Top Nickel Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for Sand. Accessed on May 13, 2020
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 13, 2020
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 13, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 13, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 13, 2020
Wikipedia, Sand. Accessed on May 13, 2020