The costs of two important chemicals used in crude-oil refining changed very little during the period, 1996-1998, while the costs of three others dropped significantly.
The two stable chemicals were hydrofluoric acid, with Nelson-Farrar index ending with 414.9; and sulfuric acid with an index constant of 347.4.
Platinum varied from 413.2 in the first quarter of 1996, to 332.6 in the last quarter of 1998. However, the average for the year of 1996 was 395.8 while 366.8 was the average for 1998.
The other two chemicals with dropping costs are sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide.
Over the 1996-1998 time span, sodium carbonate showed a maximum index value of 419.3 and a minimum index of 358.8. During this same period, the sodium hydroxide index varied from a maximum of 665.0 to a minimum of 405.0
The Nelson-Farrar overall inorganic chemical index showed a slight decrease throughout the period, varying from 486.6 in the second quarter of 1996 to 465.6 in the fourth quarter of 1998.
Itemized Refining Cost Indexes - This is a continuation of above table. (PDF format)
