Kaolin: top exporters and importers (2024)

1. United States$625 million · 33.2%
2. United Kingdom$249 million · 13.2%
3. China$211 million · 11.2%
4. Brazil$154 million · 8.2%
5. India$108 million · 5.7%
6. Germany$89 million · 4.7%
7. Czechia$66 million · 3.5%
8. Belgium$60 million · 3.2%
   re-exports
9. France$57 million · 3%
10. Ukraine$34 million · 1.8%
11. Bulgaria$32 million · 1.7%
12. Indonesia$22 million · 1.2%
13. Spain$21 million · 1.1%
14. Romania$18 million · 0.96%
15. Portugal$17 million · 0.89%
16. Malaysia$14 million · 0.74%
17. Turkey$10 million · 0.51%
18. Italy$9 million · 0.46%
19. Uzbekistan$8 million · 0.41%
20. Japan$7 million · 0.38%

The United States went from 42.7% to 33.2% of world exports of kaolin

In 2024, the United States accounted for 33.2% of recorded world exports and the three largest exporters together for 57.5%. HHI: 1,563 out of 10,000; equivalent to 6 exporters of the same size.

Share of recorded exports, not of production: a country that produces a lot and consumes almost all of it may export little

Countries where the United States sells more than half of what they buy

Countries that buy more than half of this product from its largest exporter, with its share.

• China: 64.3% of its purchases · Dependence of China on the United States
• Mexico: 81.9% of its purchases · Dependence of Mexico on the United States
• Japan: 69% of its purchases · Dependence of Japan on the United States
• Finland: 56.9% of its purchases
• South Korea: 62.9% of its purchases · Dependence of South Korea on the United States
• Brazil: 89.7% of its purchases · Dependence of Brazil on the United States
• Sweden: 50.4% of its purchases · Dependence of Sweden on the United States
• United Kingdom: 66.3% of its purchases · Dependence of the United Kingdom on the United States
• Dominican Republic: 80.2% of its purchases · Dependence of the Dominican Republic on the United States
• Costa Rica: 83.7% of its purchases · Dependence of Costa Rica on the United States

1. China$138 million · 7.3%
2. Italy$110 million · 5.8%
3. Japan$107 million · 5.7%
4. Germany$106 million · 5.6%
5. Mexico$99 million · 5.2%
6. India$82 million · 4.4%
7. Spain$82 million · 4.3%
8. Saudi Arabia$77 million · 4.1%
9. Turkey$75 million · 4%
10. Belgium$64 million · 3.4%
    re-exports
11. Finland$57 million · 3.1%
12. Canada$54 million · 2.9%
13. South Korea$51 million · 2.7%
14. Taiwan$47 million · 2.5%
15. Egypt$47 million · 2.5%
16. Sweden$44 million · 2.3%
17. France$42 million · 2.2%
18. Indonesia$31 million · 1.6%
19. Poland$29 million · 1.5%
20. Thailand$28 million · 1.5%

• 2507 · Kaolin

Products in the same chapter

• Cement
• Other minerals
• Sulfur
• Phosphate rock
• Salt
• Gravel and crushed stone
• Graphite
• Clays

Sources and licenses

• CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
• Natural Earth · Public domain

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.