Gary Farrar
Contributing Editor
Nelson-Farrar Indexes of Chemical Costs chart (33550 bytes)Itemized Refining Costs Indexes chart (66801 bytes)Itemized Refining Costs Indexes chart (152869 bytes) The costs of two important chemicals used in crude-oil refining changed very little during the period, 1991-1994, while the costs of three others cycled significantly.
The two stable chemicals were hydrofluoric acid, with Nelson-Farrar index of 407.5; and sulfuric acid with an index constant at 347.4.
Platinum varied from 375.9 in the first quarter of 1991, to 369.5 in the last quarter of 1994.
However, the average for the year of 1991 was 364.7 versus 398.5 for the average for 1994.
The two chemicals with varying costs are sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide.
Over the 1991-1994 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 671.0.
The Nelson-Farrar overall inorganic chemical index showed a slight decrease throughout the period, varying from 456.8 in the first quarter of 1991 to 437.4 in the last quarter of 1994.
