Drilling-Grade Barite (API 13A)

API 13A barite at 4.10 and 4.20 specific gravity, lumps and ground powder

Barite under HS 2511.10 is natural barium sulphate, and most of it is bought as a weighting agent for drilling mud against API Specification 13A. The standard sets a minimum specific gravity, 4.20 or 4.10; residue above 75 microns is capped at 3.0% by weight, which is the same as roughly 97% passing a 200-mesh screen; and water-soluble alkaline earth metals, as calcium, are capped at 250 mg/kg because they upset the mud chemistry. BaSO₄ content follows the gravity, typically 90% or more for 4.20 material and lower for 4.10. Lump ore is shipped for grinding at the destination and ground powder moves in 25 kg bags and 1–1.5 MT jumbo bags; white, high-purity barite for paint, plastics and glass is a separate market bought on brightness and chemistry rather than on gravity.

UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations put HS 2511.10 at USD 670 million across the reporters in the pull, led by India (22.6%, 1.77 million MT), China (21.5%), Morocco (15.7%, 932,000 MT), Türkiye (10.2%), the Netherlands (5.6%), Kazakhstan (4.3%) and Mexico (2.0%). India's supply is centred on the Mangampet deposit in Andhra Pradesh, run by the state-owned Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, which sells its output by tender; CBIL does not work government tenders. Since DGFT Notification 12/2026-27 of 17 April 2026, Indian baryte of Grade A (specific gravity 4.2 and above) and Grade B (4.10 to 4.20) is Restricted for export and needs DGFT authorisation, while lower grades remain free, so an Indian drilling-grade offer carries that licence or it does not ship. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers barite between miners, grinders and trader allocations on one side and drilling-fluid service companies, mud plants and grinders on the other, as lumps in bulk or bags and as powder in bags and jumbo bags in containers, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Offers stand against an SGS, Bureau Veritas or Intertek test report to API 13A (specific gravity, residue above 75 microns, water-soluble alkaline earth metals), a certificate of origin, a safety data sheet and any export licence the origin requires. Price is negotiated per cargo on gravity, form and origin. Send the grade, the form and the discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

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.