The short answer: per litre of ready medium, bulk compressed coco coir usually costs about the same as peat or a little less, while small coir bricks and bagged coir mixes cost more than peat. Peat still wins on sticker price close to the bogs, in Canada, the northern US and the Baltic states. Coir tends to win once you count re-use, water, wetting agent and disposal over two or three seasons. Either way, compare the price per expanded litre, never the price per bag.
Key points
- A 5 kg coir block gives roughly 60 to 80 litres. A 3.8 cu ft peat bale fluffs to about 170 litres. Do the sum before comparing.
- Coir's price moves with sea freight, husk supply and tropical weather. Peat's moves with extraction limits and truck distance.
- Coir jumped with freight in 2021 and 2022, eased in 2023 and has risen again since 2025. Peat has drifted up as Irish extraction stopped and restrictions tightened.
- Over two or three seasons, re-used coir often beats fresh peat even where the bag price is higher.
Why "price per bag" is the wrong comparison
Coir is sold compressed. Peat is sold loose or lightly compressed. A shelf price means nothing until you convert both to a litre, or a cubic metre, of hydrated medium ready to fill a pot.
The gap is bigger than most people expect. A 5 kg coco peat block is the size of a shoebox and expands to anything from 60 to 80 litres depending on compression, particle size and water. Sellers mostly quote 70 to 75. A 650 g brick gives roughly 8 to 9 litres. A 3.8 cubic foot peat bale, the standard North American format, is about 107 litres compressed and fluffs to about 170 litres. European bagged products are labelled in loose litres measured by a standard method, which helps, but blocks and bricks still need converting.
So a block's headline price looks high next to a bag of peat holding a quarter of the volume, and the cheapest format per litre is almost always the largest compressed unit bought by the pallet. The buying coco coir in bulk guide covers pallet and container quantities.
A worked example: block price to price per litre
Use your own quotes. These figures are illustrative and rounded, not a price list.
Coir block. A 5 kg block lands at your yard for 4.00 (any currency) delivered. Take a conservative 65 litres. 4.00 ÷ 65 = 0.062 per litre, about 62 per cubic metre. At 75 litres it drops to 0.053 per litre.
Coir brick. A 650 g brick at 2.00 that expands to 8 litres is 0.25 per litre, four to five times the block price for the same material. Bricks are for convenience, not economy.
Peat bale. A 3.8 cu ft bale at 20.00 that fluffs to 170 litres is 0.118 per litre, about 118 per cubic metre. At a local price of 14.00 it falls to 0.082.
Two cautions. Test your supplier's expansion by hydrating one block in a container of known volume, because grades differ. And a price per tonne still needs an expansion figure: a tonne of 5 kg blocks is 200 blocks and somewhere between 12 and 16 cubic metres of medium. The coco peat blocks guide explains how compression and grade affect the yield.
What drives the price of coco coir
Almost all horticultural coir comes from India and Sri Lanka. Its price is built in layers that move independently.
Husk supply. Pith is only produced when husks are processed for fibre. Since 2025 the trade has been short of husk. Dry weather cut yields and produced smaller husks, while charcoal, geotextile and substrate makers compete for the same raw material. Husk and wet pith prices rose sharply through 2025 and into 2026, though finished-product prices moved more slowly as manufacturers worked through stock.
Washing and processing. Raw pith is salty. Washing it with fresh water to bring the EC down, then sun-drying, screening and compressing it, costs labour, water and energy. Buffered grades treated with calcium nitrate cost more again. Our coco peat is washed with water only and is not buffered. See buffered vs unbuffered for when each makes sense.
Monsoon. Pith is sun-dried. The southwest monsoon from roughly June to September and the northeast monsoon from October to January slow drying, so output dips and prices firm up until the dry season catches up.
Sea freight. The composite container index averaged about 1,400 dollars per 40 ft box in 2019 and peaked above 10,000 dollars in September 2021. For a product worth a few thousand dollars per container at the factory gate, freight briefly became the largest part of the landed price. Rates fell through 2023 and rose again for Europe-bound cargo with Red Sea disruption in 2024.
Exchange rates and format. Coir is bought in rupees and sold in dollars, euros and pounds, and the rupee has weakened against the dollar over recent years. A 5 kg block pressed at about 5:1 gives more medium per unit of freight than a loose bale, and a screened, low-dust grade costs more than raw pith.
What drives the price of peat
Extraction. Peat is vacuum-harvested from drained bogs and needs a dry summer. Irish commercial extraction stopped in 2020, with stockpiles expected to last until around 2024. More than 60 percent of the peat in UK growing media in 2021 was imported, two-thirds of it from Ireland. Irish imports halved between 2020 and 2021 while imports from other EU countries rose by two-thirds, at higher cost.
Regulation. England planned to ban bagged peat compost for amateur gardeners from 2024, with professional use to follow. Scotland and Wales consulted on their own bans. Germany aims to largely replace peat in hobby media by 2026 and in professional media by 2030. The UK government's own analysis noted that peat prices had already risen enough to narrow the historical gap with peat-free media.
Truck freight and weather. Peat is bulky and moves by road. Growers near Canadian or Baltic bogs pay little for transport. Growers in southern Europe or the southern US pay far more, and that's where sea-landed coir becomes competitive. A wet harvest cuts the peat crop, and prices spike the following year.
How the two prices have moved
In general terms, since local prices vary widely:
| Period | Coco coir | Peat |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 to 2020 | Stable. Cheap freight, plentiful husk. | Stable. Irish extraction ends in 2020. |
| 2021 to 2022 | Sharp rise. Container rates up roughly seven-fold at the peak. | Rising. Irish imports halve, Baltic supply costs more, UK ban announced. |
| 2023 | Falling. Freight normalises, fibre prices at multi-year lows. | Firm. Energy and reformulation costs. |
| 2024 | Mixed. Red Sea disruption lifts freight to Europe. | Firm. Retail restrictions bite in England. |
| 2025 to 2026 | Rising. Husk shortage, strong demand, raw pith up sharply. | Firm to rising, tight supply in the UK and EU. |
Coir is the more volatile of the two, because freight and tropical weather swing harder than a domestic peat harvest. But peat's trend runs one way. Every restriction removes supply and nobody is opening new bogs.
Total cost of use: what the bag price misses
Re-use. Coir holds its structure for two to three seasons. In strawberry trials, direct re-use of coir bags cost little or no yield for June-bearing varieties, with roughly a 6 to 7 percent annual decline for everbearers. Peat slumps and decomposes faster and is rarely re-used professionally. Two seasons from coir against one from peat halves coir's effective price per litre. The reusing coco coir article covers sterilising and reconditioning.
Water and fertiliser. In the same trials, recycled coir used 4 to 12 percent less water and fertigation than fresh substrate. Coir also rewets easily. Dry peat turns water-repellent, which is why peat mixes carry a wetting agent and why a peat crop that dries back can need extra irrigation to recover.
Lime and wetting agent. Peat needs lime to lift the pH from around 3.5 to 4.5, plus a wetting agent. Coir sits near neutral and needs neither, though you'll add calcium and magnesium to the feed.
Labour and disposal. Hydrating blocks takes time and water, so many growers buy pre-filled grow bags instead. Peat arrives ready to mix. Both compost at end of life, but re-used coir simply makes less waste per season.
When coir is cheaper, and when peat still wins
Coir is usually the cheaper system when you buy blocks or bales by the pallet rather than bricks, when you're far from a bog and near a port, when you run a soilless crop where a second season of use is realistic, or when your market restricts peat or wants peat-free.
Peat still wins on sticker price when you're in Canada, the northern US or the Baltics buying by the truckload, when you need a single-season plug or bedding mix, when your blending line already doses lime and wetting agent, or when you're buying small retail bags.
Many blenders split the difference with 30 to 50 percent coir in the mix. That limits exposure to either market and gets most of the rewetting benefit. See coir vs peat for the agronomic side.
Comparison table
| Factor | Coco coir | Peat moss |
|---|---|---|
| Typical format | 5 kg block, 650 g brick, 25 kg bale, grow bag | 3.8 cu ft bale, 107 to 250 L compressed bale, loose bulk |
| Expanded volume | 5 kg block: roughly 60 to 80 L. Brick: roughly 8 to 9 L | 3.8 cu ft bale: roughly 170 L fluffed |
| Cheapest format per litre | Blocks or bales by the pallet | Bulk truckload near the bog |
| Main cost drivers | Husk supply, washing, drying weather, sea freight, exchange rates | Extraction permits, harvest weather, truck distance, regulation |
| Price volatility | High | Moderate, trending up |
| Re-use | 2 to 3 seasons in soilless crops | Rarely re-used |
| Extra inputs | Calcium and magnesium in the feed | Lime, wetting agent |
| Rewetting after drying | Easy | Poor without wetting agent |
| Supply outlook | Growing, but husk-limited | Shrinking under UK and EU restrictions |
Ask every supplier for expanded volume per unit and landed price to your door, divide one by the other, add your blending inputs and divide by the seasons you'll really use it. That arithmetic settles the question better than any article.
If you'd like washed, unbuffered coco peat blocks, bales or grow bags priced for your volume and destination, get in touch with your quantity and port.
FAQ
Is coco coir cheaper than peat moss?
Per litre of ready medium, bulk compressed coir usually costs about the same as peat or slightly less, while bricks and bagged coir mixes cost more. Near Canadian or Baltic bogs, peat is cheaper. Far from bogs, and over two or three seasons with re-use, coir usually is.
How do I work out the cost per litre of a coir block?
Divide the landed price by the expanded volume. A 5 kg block gives roughly 60 to 80 litres, so a block that costs 4.00 and expands to 65 litres is about 0.06 per litre. Hydrate one block in a container of known volume to check the supplier's figure.
Why is coco coir so expensive compared with a bag of compost?
You're looking at the wrong unit. A compressed block holds many times the volume of a bag of compost, and per litre it is usually cheaper. Coir does carry costs compost doesn't: washing to reduce salts, sun-drying, compression and a sea voyage from India or Sri Lanka.
Why did coco coir prices go up so much in 2021 and 2022?
Mainly sea freight. Container rates rose roughly seven-fold between 2019 and the September 2021 peak, and for a bulky, low-value product freight became the largest part of the landed price. Prices eased in 2023, then rose again from 2025 on a shortage of coconut husk.
Will peat get more expensive?
Most signs point that way. Irish extraction stopped in 2020, England has moved to restrict peat compost sales, Scotland and Wales are following, and Germany plans to phase peat out of growing media by 2030. Each restriction removes supply without adding any.
Does re-using coir really save money?
Yes, if you manage it. Strawberry trials found little yield loss when coir bags were re-used directly for June-bearing varieties, and roughly a 6 to 7 percent annual decline for everbearers. A second season roughly halves the effective price per litre, but a yield penalty from poor drainage or disease can wipe that out, so test and agitate the medium before replanting.
What hidden costs come with peat that coir doesn't have?
Lime to raise the pH, a wetting agent so the mix rewets after drying, and a higher replacement rate because peat slumps faster. Coir's hidden costs run the other way: extra calcium and magnesium in the feed, and the need for a properly washed grade to avoid salt problems.
Should I switch my whole mix to coir to save money?
Not necessarily. Many blenders replace 30 to 50 percent of peat with coir, which reduces exposure to either market's price swings and improves rewetting. Run the per-litre comparison with your own quotes and re-use assumptions before changing the whole recipe.