# Abrasives: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/correlation/ Manufactured abrasive grains such as fused alumina and silicon carbide are made by melting bauxite or alumina, or silica sand and coke, in electric arc furnaces, mostly in China. Power costs, Chinese exports and metalworking demand set prices. Price index **US producer price index: nonmetallic abrasive grains and powders** index, BLS base period · monthly, Jan 2006 to Jul 2026 #### What its price moves with Selected link ##### Abrasives and Aluminium Monthly changes -0.11 little or none correlation 12-month changes -0.48 moderate correlation Last 5 years -0.15 monthly changes Lead or lag +3 mo Aluminium tends to lead by 3 months (r 0.05) Price function, Jan 2006 to Jul 2026 Abrasives ≈ 61.8 × (Aluminium)^0.14 R² 0.01 On this fit, a 10% higher aluminium price goes with a 1.3% higher abrasives price over the long run. Units: index, BLS base period and $/mt. The fit is loose, so treat the function as a rough guide. Chart: Abrasives and Aluminium 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: Abrasives price against Aluminium 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. Commodity [Al Aluminium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/aluminum/)Shared feedstock −0.11 Fused alumina abrasives start from bauxite or calcined alumina, the same chain that feeds aluminium smelters. The index shows no monthly link with aluminium (-0.11) and yearly moves even run opposite (-0.48), because abrasive prices are set on contracts and by Chinese export supply. little or none co-movement month to month · 247 months Show charts Commodity [Qz Silica sand](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/industrial_sand/)Feedstock Silicon carbide is made by heating high-purity silica sand with petroleum coke for days in electric resistance furnaces. Sand is cheap, so power and coke matter more to cost, but pure sand is still essential. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [HI Energy-intensive industry](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_heavy_industry/)Energy cost 0.10 Abrasive grain furnaces use large amounts of electricity, so industrial power price is a key cost. The index link is weak, with monthly moves at 0.10 and yearly moves at 0.20, partly because much production is in China while the power proxy is a US price. little or none co-movement month to month · 247 months Show charts Chemical [Adh Adhesives and sealants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/adhesives/)Process input 0.21 Coated abrasives such as sandpaper and belts bind grains to backing with resins and adhesives, and bonded wheels use resin binders. The indexes share yearly moves at 0.66, monthly moves at 0.21 and 0.44 in the last five years, reflecting common US manufacturing cost trends. weak co-movement month to month · 247 months Show charts Commodity [St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)Main use −0.07 Grinding, cutting and blasting of steel and castings is the largest use of abrasives. The index barely follows steel mill prices, monthly moves at -0.07 and yearly moves at -0.16, since abrasive demand depends on fabrication volume rather than steel prices. little or none co-movement month to month · 247 months Show charts Commodity [Gt Garnet](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/garnet/)Substitute Natural garnet competes with manufactured grains in blasting and waterjet cutting. When synthetic grain prices rise, some users switch to garnet or recycled slag abrasives, which limits how far manufacturers can push through price increases. 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/commodities/abrasives/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/overview/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/stocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/links/index.md)