Zircon Sand & Zircon Flour

Premium, standard and ceramic-grade zircon sand and milled flour by ZrO₂+HfO₂, iron and titanium

Zircon under HS 2615.10 is a mineral-sands co-product bought on three chemistry numbers and one radiological one. ZrO₂+HfO₂ sets the grade: Fastmarkets assesses premium zircon at 66.5% ZrO₂ minimum, and premium specifications hold TiO₂ at or below 0.15% and Fe₂O₃ at or below 0.05%, because iron and titanium colour a white glaze or opacifier. Standard and ceramic grades carry lower ZrO₂ and wider iron and titanium allowances and go into tile bodies, refractories and foundry sands where whiteness matters less. Zircon flour is sand milled to the buyer's fineness for glazes and frits. Zircon is a naturally occurring radioactive material: its uranium and thorium sit locked in the crystal, reported typical activity is 1–5 Bq/g for U-238 and 0.5–1 Bq/g for Th-232, and in markets such as the EU zircon is expected to average below 500 ppm U+Th. The Zircon Industry Association states that zircon not exceeding the 10 Bq/g limit may be shipped internationally without applying the IAEA transport regulations or the IMDG Code; a cargo above it moves as Class 7 radioactive material, so the U+Th figure on the certificate decides how the parcel ships.

The 2024 export declarations put HS 2615.10 at USD 1.40 billion across the reporters in the pull, led by South Africa (43.5%), Indonesia (10.1%), Senegal (9.1%), Australia (7.9%) and Mozambique (7.3%). Most of that volume leaves in bulk or bags from the mineral-sands producers themselves and their appointed distributors, and the buyers are ceramic tile and sanitaryware plants, frit and glaze makers, refractory and investment-casting foundries and zirconium-chemicals plants, with China the reference market for price. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers zircon sand and flour between producers, distributors and millers on one side and those plants on the other, in 25 kg bags, 1–1.5 MT jumbo bags in containers or bulk vessel lots, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Offers stand against an SGS, Bureau Veritas or Intertek analysis of ZrO₂+HfO₂, Fe₂O₃, TiO₂, Al₂O₃ and SiO₂, a size or D50 statement for flour, a radioactivity certificate stating U+Th in ppm and specific activity, a certificate of origin and a safety data sheet. The Fastmarkets premium zircon 66.5% ZrO₂ min bulk cif China assessment is the usual price reference. Send the grade, flour fineness, radioactivity ceiling and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

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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.