Specialty amines and ethanolamines: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Specialty amines include ethanolamines, ethyleneamines and fatty amines used in surfactants, gas treating, lubricants and agrochemicals. Most are made from ethylene oxide or ethylene dichloride with ammonia, so ethylene and ammonia costs set prices.
Proxy US PPI: misc. cyclic and acyclic organic chemicals index (BLS base period =100) · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026There is no free public price for specialty amines and ethanolamines 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 linkSpecialty amines and ethanolamines and Ethylene oxide
Monthly changes 0.62 moderate correlation 12-month changes 0.82 strong correlation Last 5 years 0.49 monthly changes Lead or lag none No clear lead or lag Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Specialty amines and ethanolamines ≈ 7.77 × (Ethylene oxide)0.67 R² 0.63 On this fit, a 10% higher ethylene oxide price goes with a 6.6% higher specialty amines and ethanolamines price over the long run. Units: index (BLS base period =100) and index (BLS base period).Chart: Specialty amines and ethanolamines and Ethylene oxide 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: Specialty amines and ethanolamines price against Ethylene oxide 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.Ethanolamines are made by reacting ethylene oxide with ammonia, so ethylene oxide is the main cost. Against the organic chemicals proxy, monthly moves correlate at 0.62 and yearly at 0.82, one of the strongest pairs here.
moderate co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsAmmonia supplies the nitrogen in all these amines. Against the nitrogen fertiliser proxy, monthly moves correlate at 0.27 and yearly at 0.66, showing shared costs while fertiliser markets also move ammonia on their own.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsGas makes the ammonia and often the ethylene behind amines, and fuels the plants. European gas correlates at 0.18 for monthly moves but 0.81 for yearly moves, as gas costs feed through over months.
little or none co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsEthanolamines and fatty amines go into detergents, personal care products, fabric softeners and agrochemical formulations. The surfactants index correlates at 0.29 monthly and 0.70 yearly, reflecting shared petrochemical costs and demand.
weak co-movement month to month · 249 months Show chartsAmine solutions such as MDEA remove carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide from natural gas and refinery streams. The oil proxy correlates at 0.31 for monthly moves and 0.81 for yearly moves, as oil also sets petrochemical costs.
weak 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.