Acrylics (PMMA): Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
PMMA is made from methyl methacrylate, produced mostly from acetone, hydrogen cyanide and methanol, or from ethylene or isobutylene. It is sold as clear sheet and moulding resin for signs, displays, car lights and glazing.
Proxy US PPI: thermoplastic resins and plastics materials index (BLS base period) · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026There is no free public price for Acrylics (PMMA) 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 linkAcrylics (PMMA) and Phenol and acetone
Monthly changes 0.38 weak correlation 12-month changes 0.73 strong correlation Last 5 years 0.09 monthly changes Lead or lag none No clear lead or lag Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Acrylics (PMMA) ≈ 6.37 × (Phenol and acetone)0.69 R² 0.79 On this fit, a 10% higher phenol and acetone price goes with a 6.8% higher Acrylics (PMMA) price over the long run. Units: index (BLS base period) and index (BLS base period).Chart: Acrylics (PMMA) and Phenol and acetone 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: Acrylics (PMMA) price against Phenol and acetone 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.Acetone, the co-product of phenol, is the main carbon source in the most common methacrylate route. The cyclic intermediates proxy moves with the resin proxy at 0.38 monthly and 0.73 yearly.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsMethanol supplies the methyl ester group of methyl methacrylate. The basic organics proxy moves with the resin proxy at 0.32 monthly and 0.69 yearly. Methanol is a smaller cost than acetone or ethylene in the main routes, so its influence is modest.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsHydrogen cyanide for the acetone route is made from methane and ammonia, and gas also sets the cost of methanol. European gas moves with the resin proxy at 0.11 monthly and 0.75 yearly.
little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsPolycarbonate competes with acrylic in glazing, signs and light covers, trading clarity against toughness. They share the same proxy index here, so no separate statistics are shown. Buyers switch where specifications allow.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Acrylic light guides and diffusers are used in LED panels and signs. The lighting fixtures index barely moves with the resin proxy, 0.02 monthly, as fittings prices depend mostly on electronics and labour.
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.