Limestone (Flux & Crushed)

High-CaCO₃ flux lumps and crushed stone in Supramax lots

Limestone under HS 2521.00 is bought on chemistry first and size second. Calcium carbonate content (93–97% for flux, ≥ 90% for cement raw feed) sets how much stone you need per tonne of clinker or hot metal; silica (≤ 2% flux, up to 4–6% tolerated in cement feed) is the number a blast furnace or BOF shop polices hardest, because every point of SiO₂ in the flux is more slag volume and more lime consumed to hold basicity. Magnesia (≤ 1.5–3%) matters where the stone is heading to a lime kiln or a glass batch, and sulphur, phosphorus and alkalis (Na₂O + K₂O ≤ 0.3%) are set by whoever is downstream of the kiln. On size, steelworks flux runs 10–40 mm or 40–80 mm lump with fines under 10 mm capped at 5%; cement plants take 0–40 mm run-of-quarry or crushed; sinter and pellet plants take a fine fraction. Loss on ignition around 42–44% is simply the CO₂ leaving good stone, and a low figure is a warning of clay or silica, not a virtue.

The trade is short-haul and freight-led. The 2025 export declarations: Oman shipped 9.17 million MT of HS 2521 at an average USD 7/MT FOB, India 6.48 million MT at USD 10, Egypt 623k MT at USD 31, Malaysia 931k MT at USD 48. Oman's own declarations for 2025 place 5.40 million MT (59%) into India, 2.23 million MT into the UAE and 837k MT into Bangladesh, at USD 6–10/MT. At those numbers a Supramax of Omani limestone is worth under USD 400,000 on the quay and the freight to Chittagong or the Indian west coast is usually more than the cargo, so the delivered cost lives or dies on the vessel: geared or gearless, draft at the discharge port, laytime and demurrage exposure. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company that also runs a chartering desk (LaycanDesk), and we are currently working Shinas and Sohar loadings to Chittagong. That puts us in a position to quote the cargo and the ship together against an SGS or Intertek chemistry and sizing certificate, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms, in Handymax and Supramax parcels of 30,000–58,000 MT. Send your CaCO₃ floor, SiO₂ ceiling, size fraction and discharge port draft and we work the quarry and the tonnage to fit.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices bulk limestone, gypsum and aggregates freight on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.