# CMP slurries and pads: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/correlation/ Chemical mechanical planarisation uses abrasive slurries and polymer pads to polish wafers flat between layers. Slurries combine silica, alumina or ceria abrasives with oxidisers and additives; prices reflect performance and qualification rather than raw materials. No public price CMP slurries and pads has no public monthly price series: Sold on fab contracts by few suppliers; no public price index. #### What its price moves with Commodity [REE Rare earths](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/rare_earths/)Ceria abrasive Cerium oxide, a rare earth, is the abrasive of choice for polishing oxide layers and shallow trench isolation. China controls most rare earth processing, so its export rules can affect ceria slurry supply and cost. No public price for rare earths, so the link is explained in words only. Chemical [Ssi Sodium silicate](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/sodium_silicate/)Colloidal silica Colloidal silica, the most common slurry abrasive, is grown from sodium silicate solutions. Sodium silicate is cheap, so it is a small cost, but it explains why silica slurry makers sit close to silicate chemistry. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [H2O2 Hydrogen peroxide](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/hydrogen_peroxide/)Oxidiser Slurries for copper and tungsten layers use hydrogen peroxide to oxidise the metal surface so the abrasive can remove it. It is usually added at the fab, so its price mainly affects fab operating costs. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [PU Polyurethanes (MDI, TDI, polyols)](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/polyurethanes/)Pad material Polishing pads are porous polyurethane sheets made by a few suppliers. Polyurethane raw material costs are minor relative to pad prices, which are set by performance and by qualification lock-in at each fab. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [UPW Ultra-pure wet chemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/)Shared chip demand Polishing is followed by cleaning steps that use ultra-pure wet chemicals, so both scale with the number of layers polished. More complex chips, with more metal layers, raise demand for both. No public price for ultra-pure wet chemicals, so the link is explained in words only. Energy [DC Data centres](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/)Chip demand driver AI chips and high-bandwidth memory need many more polishing steps per wafer, so data-centre investment drives slurry demand. The data-centre series is a commercial power price proxy and does not capture this demand. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. How to read these numbers **Correlation of monthly changes** (the number in the coloured pill) compares how much each price moved, month by month, since 2006 or the first month both series exist. It runs from −1 to +1: near +1 the two usually rise and fall in the same months, near 0 there is no link, and a negative number means they tend to move in opposite directions. Above 0.7 is strong, 0.4 to 0.7 moderate, 0.2 to 0.4 weak. **12-month changes** compare year-on-year moves, which shows whether two prices share the same cycles even when the month-to-month noise differs. **Price function** is a straight-line fit of the two prices on logarithmic scales: price ≈ k × (partner price)^β. β is how much this price moves, in per cent, for a 1% move in the partner over the whole period, and R² is the share of the variation the fit explains. Two prices that both drift up with inflation can fit well without any real link, so read it together with the monthly correlation. **Lead or lag** checks whether the monthly correlation is clearly higher when one price is shifted by 1 to 6 months. Correlation is not cause. The reasons on each card explain the economic link; the numbers show how strongly it has shown up in prices. Proxy series are US producer price indexes or related prices and can blur the real link. Data: World Bank Commodity Price Data (Pink Sheet), October 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price indexes, IMF primary commodity prices and US EIA prices via FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, retrieved November 2026. Calculations by this site. ## Other sections - [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/overview/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/cmp_slurries/links/index.md)