# Diatomite: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/correlation/ Diatomite is a light, porous rock made of fossil algae shells, mined in the United States, Denmark, China and Peru. It is calcined into filter aids for beer, wine, sugar and water, plus fillers and absorbents. A few producers set prices privately. No public price Diatomite has no public monthly price series: Few producers selling on private contracts; no public monthly index. #### What its price moves with Commodity [Pl Perlite](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/perlite/)Substitute Expanded perlite competes with diatomite as a filter aid, especially in coarser filtration. Users switch between them on cost and performance, which limits how far either price can move independently. No public price for perlite, so the link is explained in words only. Commodity [Bly Barley](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/barley/)Demand driver Breweries use diatomite to filter beer clear after fermentation. Beer output, which depends on malting barley supply and consumer demand, therefore sets a large share of filter aid use, although some brewers now use membrane filters instead. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Commodity [Su Sugar](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/sugar/)Demand driver Sugar refiners and sweetener makers filter syrups through diatomite. Refining volumes are steady from year to year, giving diatomite producers a stable base of demand alongside the more cyclical industrial and construction uses. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Chemical [WT Water treatment chemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/water_treatment/)Filter use Diatomite filters clean swimming pool and some drinking water. Membrane and sand filters compete in this market, so diatomite holds share mainly where fine filtration is needed at low cost. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [Gas Natural gas](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/natural_gas/)Energy cost Most diatomite is calcined in rotary kilns fired with gas or oil to make it white and more porous. Fuel is therefore a major processing cost, and high gas prices squeeze producer margins. 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/diatomite/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/overview/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/stocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/diatomite/links/index.md)