# Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF): Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/correlation/ Fluoropolymers such as PTFE and PVDF are made from fluorspar via hydrofluoric acid and chlorinated intermediates. China dominates supply, and prices depend on fluorspar, refrigerant quotas, PFAS rules and demand from chips, batteries and chemical plants. No public price Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF) has no public monthly price series: Specialty grades sold on private contracts; no public price index. #### What its price moves with Commodity [F Fluorspar](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/fluorspar/)Raw material Acid-grade fluorspar is the source of all the fluorine in these polymers, and Chinese mining curbs have tightened supply. Neither has a public price series here, so the tie is shown only as text: ore costs pass through acid and monomer to resin. No public price for fluorspar, so the link is explained in words only. Chemical [HF Hydrofluoric acid](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/hydrofluoric_acid/)Feedstock Hydrofluoric acid, made by treating fluorspar with sulphuric acid, reacts with chloroform to make the refrigerant gas from which PTFE monomer is cracked. Fluoropolymers lack a public series, so the tie with the acid proxy cannot be measured. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [HFC Fluorochemicals and refrigerants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoro_intermediates/)Precursor R-22 is the gas cracked into PTFE monomer; ozone rules cap its use as a refrigerant but exempt feedstock use, so quotas shape how plants run. Without a fluoropolymer series, the tie cannot be measured against the proxy. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [Cl2 Chlorine](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/chlorine/)Input Chloroform, made from methane and chlorine, supplies the carbon in the PTFE monomer route, so chlor-alkali conditions in China feed into costs. The link is real but small in cost terms and cannot be measured here. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [NMC Nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_li_nmc/)End use PVDF binds cathode materials in lithium-ion cells and coats separators, so the battery build-out drove a PVDF price spike in 2021 and 2022 and a slump once new capacity arrived. The battery index is a finished-goods price, so it cannot show this. 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/fluoropolymers/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/overview/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/links/index.md)