Launch of three monthly price assessments for barite

Fastmarkets will on Thursday August 31 launch three barite prices to complement its existing coverage of the barite market.

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.

What to read next
The assessment, which currently follows the UK holiday calendar, will follow the Singapore holiday calendar after the proposed change. There will be no change to the publication timing, and the assessment will continue to be published weekly on Wednesdays, at 7pm Singapore time. The decision follows a consultation period for the proposed amendment which took […]
Fastmarkets has amended its pricing holiday calendar to show Monday June 29, 2026 as a non-publishing day for Black Sea grains and oilseeds prices.
This consultation, which is open until July 27, 2026, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency. You can […]
Fastmarkets has corrected the rationale for MB-CU-0287 Copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific, $/tonne, which was published incorrectly on Friday June 26 due to a typo.
Fastmarkets has launched a monthly price assessment for medium carbon ferro-manganese in Europe, effective on Friday June 26, following market requests for price transparency.
Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of its MB-NI-0246 Nickel sulfate, cif Japan and Korea, and MB-NI-0247 Nickel sulfate premium, cif Japan and Korea assessments to fortnightly from weekly, effective Friday June 26.