Nickel-based batteries: Correlation
Prices it moves with, and why
Nickel-metal hydride and nickel-cadmium batteries are mature products for hybrid cars, power tools and rail and aviation backup. Prices follow nickel, rare earth alloys, cobalt and potassium hydroxide electrolyte, in a market slowly losing share to lithium.
Proxy US PPI: storage batteries excl. lead-acid index · monthly, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026There is no free public price for nickel-based batteries 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 linkNickel-based batteries and Nickel
Monthly changes -0.02 little or none correlation 12-month changes 0.23 weak correlation Last 5 years 0.11 monthly changes Lead or lag +2 mo Nickel tends to lead by 2 months (r 0.15) Price function, Jan 2006 to Sep 2026 Nickel-based batteries ≈ 481.5 × (Nickel)-0.09 R² 0.03 On this fit, a 10% higher nickel price goes with a −0.8% lower nickel-based batteries price over the long run. Units: index and $/mt. The fit is loose, so treat the function as a rough guide.Chart: Nickel-based batteries and Nickel 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: Nickel-based batteries price against Nickel 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.Nickel hydroxide forms the positive electrode in both chemistries. The battery proxy is a broad US index that includes lithium cells, so it shows no link to nickel, with monthly moves at -0.02 and yearly moves at 0.23.
little or none co-movement month to month · 243 months Show chartsThe negative electrode of nickel-metal hydride cells stores hydrogen in an alloy rich in lanthanum and cerium. These light rare earths are cheap and plentiful compared with magnet metals, so they add moderate cost.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Nickel-cadmium cells use cadmium, a by-product of zinc refining that is toxic and tightly regulated. Rules restricting cadmium have pushed most uses to nickel-metal hydride or lithium chemistries, leaving mainly industrial and aviation uses.
Not enough overlapping price history to measure.Both chemistries use potassium hydroxide electrolyte, made by electrolysis of potassium chloride from potash. Electrolyte is a small cost, so the potash price shows almost no link to the battery proxy, with monthly moves at 0.07.
little or none co-movement month to month · 243 months Show chartsPotassium hydroxide is made in chlor-alkali cells, the same process that makes caustic soda. The alkalies proxy shows no monthly link to the battery proxy, at -0.03, with yearly moves at 0.36.
little or none co-movement month to month · 243 months Show chartsHybrid cars have long used nickel-metal hydride packs. Demand depends on hybrid sales and on how fast makers switch those models to lithium, which matters more to this market than metal prices.
little or none co-movement month to month · 243 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.