# Photoresists: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/correlation/ Photoresists are light-sensitive polymer solutions used to print circuit patterns on wafers. A few, mostly Japanese, suppliers dominate, and prices reflect qualification, purity and lithography generation far more than raw material costs. No public price Photoresists has no public monthly price series: Sold under private contracts by a handful of suppliers; no public index. #### What its price moves with Chemical [Phe Phenol and acetone](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/phenol/)Resin input Older i-line and g-line resists use novolac resins made from cresols and formaldehyde, which are phenol-family chemicals. Raw materials are a small part of resist value, so phenol price moves barely reach resist prices. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [PO Propylene oxide](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/propylene_oxide/)Solvent input Most resists are dissolved in PGMEA, a solvent made from propylene oxide and methanol. Solvent is the largest component by volume, yet ultra-high purity, not the base chemical price, sets its cost to fabs. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [UPW Ultra-pure wet chemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/wet_chemicals/)Used together Resists are spun on, exposed, developed with alkaline solutions and stripped with ultra-pure acids and peroxide. Resists and wet chemicals are therefore bought by the same fabs and grow with the same wafer starts. No public price for ultra-pure wet chemicals, so the link is explained in words only. Chemical [ESG Electronic specialty gases](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/electronic_gases/)Shared chip demand Lithography and etch steps alternate, so photoresists and etch gases are consumed in proportion to the number of patterning layers. Both depend on advanced logic and memory output and face the same push for local supply chains. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [DC Data centres](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/)Chip demand driver Advanced resists for extreme ultraviolet and argon fluoride lithography are used mainly for leading-edge chips, now driven by AI data centres. The data-centre series is a power price proxy, so it reflects energy cost, not chip demand. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [Oil Crude oil](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/crude_oil/)Distant feedstock Resist polymers and solvents ultimately derive from petrochemicals, but their oil content is tiny relative to their value. Oil swings therefore have little effect on resist prices; this link mainly shows how far specialty chemicals sit from commodity markets. 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/photoresists/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/overview/index.md) - [Production route](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/routes/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/production/index.md) - [Feedstocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/feedstocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/movement/index.md) - [Regulation](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/regulation/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/photoresists/links/index.md)