Research Guides: Chemical Engineering: Chemical Prices

Bulk Chemical Prices

Finding prices for bulk chemicals has always been a challenge. Prices for bulk chemicals (e.g., 1 metric ton) are significantly different from finding laboratory chemical prices (i.e., one cannot just multiply 1 kg price found in a catalog by 1,000 and obtain a realistic price for a metric ton). In many cases, you may not be able to find a bulk chemical price for the chemical you want. With that said, there are a few places to search for bulk chemical pricing.

Chemical Pricing Database - Beta Version
Includes citations to articles in Chemical Week and ICIS Chemical Business containing chemical prices (2015-2022). Once you locate a chemical in the Chemical Pricing Database, use the links below to locate the full text using Chemical Week or ICIS Chemical Business below. NOTE: Database retired on 11/8/2023.
Chemical Week
A trade magazine for the chemical industry. Up until early 2010, Chemical Week included weekly pricing for approximately 20 major commodity chemicals in their "CW Price Report", as well as a "Product Focus" for a particular chemical focusing price, outlook, and producers. The "Basic Chemicals & Plastics" sections contains pricing. See the Chemical Pricing Database tab to the left for chemical pricing available in the Basic Chemicals & Plastics section.
ICIS Chemical Business (formerly Chemical Market Reporter)
A trade magazine for the chemical industry. Up until mid-2010, the magazine Included weekly pricing for approximately 12 major commodities (Under "Key Indicators" in the "Market Trends & Data" section). A "Chemical Profile" is still published in most issues featuring a single chemical that focuses on uses, supply/demand, price, and markets. See the Chemical Pricing Database tab to the left for Chemical Profiles in ICIS Chemical Business (2015-present).
ICIS Chemical Business - Chemical Profiles (2006-2017)
A list of Chemical Profiles in ICIS Chemical Business from 2006-2017. Compliments of UT.
ICIS Historical Chemical Pricing
ICIS maintains older chemical pricing data for about 100 chemicals. Most of the prices are from August 2006 and not current.
Eikon (Datastream)
A business database with current and historical commodity pricing for about 50 U.S. chemicals, including pricing from sources outside the U.S. After logging into Eikon using Internet Explorer as the browser, enter GLOBALDATA into the upper-left box and hit Enter. Then select the Chemical and Country of interest.
The Plastics Exchange
Contains contract and contract pricing on PP, HDPE, and LDPE.
Oil & Gas Journal
A trade magazine for the oil and gas industry. Includes weekly oil and gas prices, as well as production under the "Statistics" section. The "Statistics" section is only available in the print issues. Recent issues are located in Current Periodicals (1st Floor Evans Library) under TN860 .O4 and older issues are on the 3rd Floor of Evans Library (TN860 .O4).
U.S. Energy Information Administration - Daily Prices
Contains pricing for oil, natural gas, propane, kerosene, and related products.
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries
Contains production and some pricing information for minerals (e.g., elements, fertilizers, metals, oxides, salts, etc.)
Industrial Minerals
A trade magazine with occasional pricing for inorganic compounds like borax, iodine, lithium carbonate, magnesium oxide, and titanium oxide.
ChemAnalyst
The prices through this source appear higher than other sources, so compare to other current sources or older prices adjusted with a PPI.
Intratec IC
Intratec IC provides access to sample reports containing pricing for over 200 chemicals, though pricing is 2017-2018 data. Consider using a cost index below to adjust to estimate present pricing.

BCC Research This link opens in a new window
Market research reports that includes major economic, scientific, and technological developments in industrial, pharmaceutical, and high technology organizations. Some reports contain pricing.

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
Contains over 1,000 articles on chemical substances, physical properties, industrial production, and process diagrams. Some articles about individual chemicals contain an economics section with some - often older - pricing.
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Contains over 1,000 articles on chemical substances, physical properties, industrial production, and process diagrams. Some articles about individual chemicals contain an economics section with some - often older - pricing.

Adjusting Older Chemical Prices Using a PPI

Current bulk chemical prices can be estimated by adjusting older chemical prices to current levels using a Producer Price Index (PPI). The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis lists a number of Producer Price Indices for Chemicals and Allied Products.

Updated Price = Older Price x [(Cost Index at Newer Date) / (Cost Index at Older Date)]

FRED - Producer Price Indexes for Chemicals and Allied Products

The conference paper below describes using the Producer Price Index to adjust older chemical prices.
Hubbard, D. E. (2021, March), Efficacy of Using Producer Price Indexes for Bulk Chemical Prices in Student Design Projects Paper presented at ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, Waco, Texas. https://peer.asee.org/36374