Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Formaldehyde and Natural gas

Natural gas is a raw material for formaldehyde; their prices have moved together.

Formaldehyde (chemical) and Natural gas (energy): 2 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Feedstock

Physical flow · Direct · Natural gas → Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is made from natural gas: it is one of the raw materials its production routes start from.

2. Price link: upstream feed

Cost and price · Strong · Both ways

Gas sets the cost of methanol outside China and so of formaldehyde. European gas moves with the proxy at 0.21 monthly and 0.80 yearly, reflecting that shared energy base. In China, coal plays the same role.

  • 0.21 monthly change correlation
  • 0.80 12-month change correlation
  • 0.15 fitted elasticity

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