Launch of three monthly price assessments for barite

The assessments are for barite, drilling grade, API, 4.10 on an FOB basis from China, India and Morocco.

India, China and Morocco were the top producers of barite in 2022, according to the US Geological Survey.

An open consultation on the proposed prices ran from July 31 until August 28.

In recent months, market participants have reported a resurgence in liquidity and availability of the 4.10 grade of barite. Reportedly some western purchasers of barite have opted to purchase increased volumes of 4.10 grade due to diminishing availability of 4.20 grade. 4.20 grade barite remains the preference for other western buyers as well as the Middle Eastern market.

Market feedback received during the consultation was in support of Fastmarkets launching these prices.

Thus the launch of these price assessments will meet market participants’ needs for greater coverage of the barite market under these new conditions.

The price specifications will be as follows:

Barite, drilling grade, unground lump, API, bulk, SG 4.10, FOB China, $ per tonne
Quality: API grade, SG 4.10 unground lump
Quantity: 1,000 tonnes minimum
Location: FOB China
Timing: Spot
Unit: $ per tonne
Payment terms: within 30 days
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of every month, 4pm London time.

Barite, drilling grade, unground lump, API, bulk, SG 4.10, FOB Chennai, $ per tonne
Quality: API grade, SG 4.10 unground lump
Quantity: 1,000 tonnes minimum
Location: FOB Chennai, India
Timing: Spot
Unit: $ per tonne
Payment terms: within 30 days
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of every month, 4pm London time.

Barite, drilling grade, unground lump, API, bulk, SG 4.10, FOB Morocco, $ per tonne
Quality: API grade, SG 4.10 unground lump
Quantity: 1,000 tonnes minimum
Location: FOB Morocco
Timing: Spot
Unit: $ per tonne
Payment terms: within 30 days
Publication: Monthly, last Thursday of every month, 4pm London time.

The other existing barite prices published by Fastmarkets are unaffected, and will remain in place.

To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these prices, please contact Alex Cook by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Alex Cook, re: barite.”

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.