Chemical Engineering - Economy and Business
Chemical prices
Here are some useful resources:
Digital platform maintained by an Indian company, whose mission is to monitor fluctuations in the chemical and petrochemical markets in real time, enabling its customers to make informed strategic decisions. For over 400 products, ChemAnalyst offers market analyses, in-depth evaluations based on more than 15 criteria, and forecasts for the next 10 years.
The Premium version is required to access the full range of features, but the free version can also provide a few insights.
Example: the price page for sulfuric acid: 
- Plastics Exchange: site that provides contract and spot prices for PP, LDPE and HDPE.
- The ICIS Chemical Business journal, indexed in ProQuest One Business until 2020.
Using a price index to update historical prices
Current prices for products or equipment can be estimated by adjusting older prices to current levels using a Producer Price Index (PPI). As publicly available prices are often several years old, it is necessary to update them before using them in an estimate.
To this end, a formula can be used :
Updated price = Older price x [(Index at most recent date) / (Index at oldest date)].
Here are a few PPIs that could be used for this calculation:
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)For specific chemicals in the US market.
- Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index (CEPCI)Available in ProQuest OneBusiness. See the Databases tab to find out how to obtain it. Useful for specific equipment.
- Industrial product price indexesUseful for updating product prices in Canadian dollars. In the table, you will find a category for all chemical products.
For a detailed methodology, consult :
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
- Essence Montréal"Tracking Quebec gas prices."
- Petroleum & Other Liquids - U.S. Energy Information AdministrationGasoline and diesel fuel update.
- Oil Market Report - International Energy Agency"Data, forecasts and analysis on the global oil market."
PLASTICS
- Canadian Plastics (Resin Prices)Prices in USD updated daily.
- Plastics News.com - Plastics Resin PricingPrices for large purchases.
- Plastics TechnologyContains the sections "Resin Prices" and "Recycled Resin Prices" at the end of each monthly issue.
METALS & MINERALS
- USGS Commodity Statistics and Information"Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy, the national security, and protection of the environment."
Data is collected and compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey.
EQUIPMENT
- Matches' Process Equipment Cost Estimates"Provides conceptual (order-of-magnitude) process equipment cost estimates for over 275 types of equipment used in the chemical and metallurgical industry."
Chemical Process Equipment : selection and design (2012) - ISBN: 9780123969590Publication Date: 2012Chapter 21, Costs of individual equipment, provides cost calculations for each type of equipment.
GENERAL PRICE LISTS
- Chemical Economics Handbook - IHS MarkitThe abstracts of the reports are free.
- Chemical Economics: Prices, Costs, Production and Markets - Queen's University Library"This guide covers sources of information and statistics on chemical prices, production, trade, construction and manufacturing costs."
- Matches' Process Equipment Cost Estimates"Provides conceptual (order-of-magnitude) process equipment cost estimates for over 275 types of equipment used in the chemical and metallurgical industry."
