# Paracetamol: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/correlation/ Paracetamol is made by acetylating para-aminophenol (PAP) with acetic anhydride. PAP and acetic anhydride costs, Chinese and Indian capacity and demand surges set the price, which can swing sharply even though paracetamol is a mature generic. No public price Paracetamol has no public monthly price series: Traded on private quotes between makers and formulators; no public index. #### What its price moves with Chemical [Phe Phenol and acetone](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/phenol/)PAP route One route to para-aminophenol nitrates phenol and then reduces it, so phenol costs feed into PAP. How much depends on the route, as many plants make PAP from nitrobenzene instead. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [Bz Benzene](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/benzene/)PAP route The main route makes PAP from nitrobenzene, which comes from benzene, by hydrogenation in acid. Benzene price swings therefore reach paracetamol through PAP, though with lags and Chinese supply effects. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [AcOH Acetic acid](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/acetic_acid/)Acetylating agent Acetic anhydride, made from acetic acid, adds the acetyl group that turns PAP into paracetamol. It is the second largest raw material after PAP, so spikes in acetic acid prices raise paracetamol costs. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [KSM Pharma starting materials and intermediates](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/ksm_intermediates/)Key intermediate PAP is the classic key starting material for paracetamol, and India has worked to make it locally under production-linked incentive schemes. Its supply and price drive most of paracetamol's cost. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [API Small-molecule APIs](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/apis/)Product class Paracetamol is one of the largest-volume APIs, with Indian makers among the main producers. It trades more like a commodity than most APIs, with prices that spike in demand surges such as in 2020. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [Oil Crude oil](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/crude_oil/)Distant feedstock Benzene and acetic acid both trace back to oil, gas and coal, so energy prices set a floor under paracetamol costs. Oil's influence is small, however, next to the effect of PAP supply. 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/paracetamol/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/overview/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/paracetamol/links/index.md)