Niobium: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Niobium is dominated by one Brazilian producer, CBMM, which sets prices in private contracts. Nearly all is used as ferroniobium to strengthen steel for pipelines, cars and buildings, so demand follows high-strength steel output.
No public price Niobium has no public monthly price series: One producer sets prices in private contracts; no public series.What its price moves with
Tiny amounts of niobium make high-strength low-alloy steel for pipelines, car bodies and bridges, letting builders use less steel for the same strength. Demand therefore follows steel output and the shift to higher-strength grades.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Niobium and vanadium both microalloy steel, and mills can switch between them in rebar and plate when one becomes expensive. Niobium's stable producer pricing made it a gainer when vanadium prices spiked.
No public price for vanadium, so the link is explained in words only.Niobium and tantalum occur together in columbite-tantalite ores, and some mines in Africa and Brazil recover both. Their markets are separate, though: tantalum goes mainly into electronics, niobium into steel.
No public price for tantalum, so the link is explained in words only.Niobium-titanium and niobium-tin wires are the main superconductors in MRI scanners, particle accelerators and fusion magnets, a small high-value use. Superconducting power cables are a possible future market for the same materials.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Niobium oxides are being developed for fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion anodes, and the main producer is investing in this market. It is not yet large enough to move niobium demand, which remains tied to steel.
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.