# Pumice: Correlation Prices it moves with, and why Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/correlation/ Pumice is a light, porous volcanic rock quarried in Turkey, Italy, Greece and Iran. It is used as lightweight aggregate and pozzolan in concrete, in stonewashing denim, horticulture and mild abrasives. Being cheap and bulky, it is priced by freight. No public price Pumice has no public monthly price series: Low-value bulk trade priced by freight; no public monthly index. #### What its price moves with Commodity [Cem Cement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cement/)Pozzolan use Ground pumice reacts with lime in concrete and can replace part of the cement, while coarse pumice makes lightweight blocks. Building demand in Turkey and the Middle East drives most volume through cement products. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Commodity [Stn Crushed stone](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/crushed_stone/)Substitute Pumice competes with ordinary crushed stone and with manufactured lightweight aggregates in concrete. It wins where lighter structures or insulation are wanted, but heavier stone is cheaper for most uses. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Commodity [Pl Perlite](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/perlite/)Substitute Expanded perlite and pumice are both light, porous volcanic materials used in horticulture and lightweight building products. Growers and builders choose between them on local price and availability, as pumice needs no furnace expansion while perlite must be heated. No public price for perlite, so the link is explained in words only. Commodity [Ct Cotton](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cotton/)Demand driver Garment factories tumble denim jeans with pumice stones to create a worn look. Denim output, which follows cotton and fashion demand, sets this use, though enzyme and laser finishing are replacing stones. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Commodity [Abr Abrasives](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/abrasives/)Mild abrasive Fine pumice powder is used in cleaners, polishes and personal care products as a gentle abrasive. It competes with manufactured abrasive grains and other minerals such as calcium carbonate in these consumer and industrial cleaning uses. Not enough overlapping price history to measure. Energy [Tk Tankers, barges and fuel trucks](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_tankers/)Freight cost Pumice is low in value and bulky, so ocean freight can be a large share of the delivered price in importing countries. Shipping rates therefore influence how far Turkish or Greek pumice can be sold economically. 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/pumice/index.md) - [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/overview/index.md) - [Extraction](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/extraction/index.md) - [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/production/index.md) - [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/stocks/index.md) - [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/cycles/index.md) - [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/trading/index.md) - [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/movement/index.md) - [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/criticality/index.md) - [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/characteristics/index.md) - [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/emissions/index.md) - [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pumice/links/index.md)