Plasticisers: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Plasticisers such as DINP, DOTP and DOP soften PVC for cables, flooring and films. They are made from oxo alcohols, which come from propylene, and phthalic or terephthalic acid from xylenes, so oil-linked feedstock costs and PVC demand set prices.
Proxy US PPI: other basic organic chemicals index (BLS base period) · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026There is no free public price for plasticisers itself, so this tab uses the closest public series as a stand-in. Read the numbers as an indication, not as the price of this exact item.
What its price moves with
Selected linkPlasticisers and PVC
Monthly changes 0.32 weak correlation 12-month changes 0.69 moderate correlation Last 5 years 0.37 monthly changes Lead or lag none No clear lead or lag Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Plasticisers ≈ 0.903 × (PVC)1.02 R² 0.77 On this fit, a 10% higher PVC price goes with a 10.2% higher plasticisers price over the long run. Units: index (BLS base period) and index (BLS base period).Chart: Plasticisers and PVC prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, log scale
Both prices rebased to 100 at Jan 2006, on a log scale so equal percentage moves look the same size.Chart: Plasticisers price against PVC price, monthly, log scales, with fitted line
Each dot is one month; paler dots are older (2006), darker dots recent (2026); the ringed dot is the latest month. The dashed line is the fitted price function. Both axes are logarithmic.Most plasticisers go into flexible PVC, so construction, cable and automotive demand for PVC sets plasticiser volumes. The PVC proxy correlates with the plasticiser proxy at 0.32 for monthly moves, 0.69 for yearly moves and 0.37 over the last five years.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show charts2-ethylhexanol and other oxo alcohols, the larger part of a plasticiser molecule, are made from propylene and syngas. Against the petrochemical index proxy, monthly moves correlate at 0.29 and yearly moves at 0.64.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsDOTP is made from terephthalic acid, which comes from paraxylene, and orthophthalates from ortho-xylene, a sibling stream. Paraxylene shares the petrochemical index proxy with propylene, so its figures match: 0.29 monthly and 0.64 yearly.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsOil prices set the cost of the naphtha and gas liquids behind both the alcohol and acid inputs. Monthly moves correlate at 0.23 and yearly moves at 0.58, with oil leading by about 1 month as costs feed through the chain.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsRefineries supply the naphtha, propylene and xylenes that plasticiser chains start from, so refinery prices and plasticiser feedstocks move together. Monthly moves correlate at 0.38 and yearly moves at 0.68, stronger than for crude alone.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsEpoxidised soybean oil is a bio-based plasticiser and PVC stabiliser that competes with phthalates. The link is weaker: monthly moves correlate at 0.14, yearly at 0.48 and -0.04 over the last five years, with soybeans leading by about 3 months.
little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsHow 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.