Crude oil and Polystyrene and EPS

Crude oil is a raw material for polystyrene and EPS; their prices have moved together.

Crude oil (energy) and Polystyrene and EPS (chemical): 2 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Feedstock

Physical flow · Direct · Crude oil → Polystyrene and EPS

Polystyrene and EPS is made from crude oil: it is one of the raw materials its production routes start from.

2. Price link: feedstock cost

Cost and price · Strong · Both ways

Oil sets the cost of benzene and ethylene behind styrene. Brent moves with the resin proxy at 0.24 monthly and 0.72 yearly. The monthly tie is loose because polystyrene margins swing with styrene supply and packaging demand rather than with oil directly.

• 0.24 monthly change correlation
• 0.72 12-month change correlation
• 0.18 fitted elasticity

Built from the site data on production routes, energy flows, industry value chains, input-output tables and prices.