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How Nelson-farrar Indexes Of Chemical Costs Have Changed

July 7, 1997

Nelson-Farrar indexes of chemical costs [52729 bytes] Itemized refined cost indexes [59680 bytes] Itemized refining cost indexes [100067 bytes] The costs of two important chemicals used in crude-oil refining changed very little during the period, 1994-1996, while the costs of three others cycled significantly. The two stable chemicals were hydrofluoric acid, with Nelson-Farrar index ending with 411.2, and sulfuric acid with an index constant of 347.4. Platinum varied from 395.0 in the first

Gary Farrar
Contributing Editor

The costs of two important chemicals used in crude-oil refining changed very little during the period, 1994-1996, while the costs of three others cycled significantly.

The two stable chemicals were hydrofluoric acid, with Nelson-Farrar index ending with 411.2, and sulfuric acid with an index constant of 347.4.

Platinum varied from 395.0 in the first quarter of 1994, to 437.4 in the second quarter of 1995, and back to 381.5 in the last quarter of 1996.

However, the average for the year of 1994 was 398.5 while 395.8 was the average for 1996.

The two chemicals with varying costs are sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide.

Over the 1994-1996 time span, sodium carbonate showed a minimum index value of 359.2 and a maximum index of 419.3. During this same period, the sodium hydroxide index varied from a minimum of 257.0 to a maximum of 675.9.

The Nelson-Farrar overall inorganic chemical index showed a moderate increase throughout the period, varying from 437.4 in the second quarter of 1994 to 487.0 in the first quarter of 1996.