Producer Price Index for the industrial chemicals commodity group, a WPU index covering bulk acids, alkalies, and other chemical inputs sold to manufacturers rather than one specific industry's output. Index base: 1982 = 100.
Latest value
336.006
Index · as of Aug 2026
Year-over-year change
+13.1%
BLS
Month-over-month change
+0.8%
Latest value is 1 month old. Next update expected around Sep 2026.
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Enter a base value, a current value, and a contract amount to see the adjustment.
Price history
Data & insights
Key figures
From Jan 2024 to Aug 2026 the index went from 290.9 to 336.0, a change of +15.5%.
Highest reading in that period: 344.6 in Jun 2026. Lowest: 288.4 in Jan 2026.
Largest one-month rise: +6.9% in Apr 2026. Largest one-month fall: -3.3% in Jul 2026.
For a clause that resets its base every year, a 10% cap or floor would have limited the adjustment in 4 of the last 20 months.
Volatility (12mo)
±2.75%
Std. dev. of month-over-month change
Strongest average month-over-month move historically: April (+2.6% avg).
What this means for your clause
Used in bulk chemical supply and toll manufacturing agreements where the buyer wants one broad chemicals figure rather than naming each feedstock. A contract with one dominant feedstock gets a more accurate escalator from that feedstock's own narrower series.
Draft a clause
A starting point citing this series by name and code. Replace the bracketed terms with your contract's actual scope before use.
The [affected portion] of the Contract Price shall be adjusted using US PPI — Industrial Chemicals (BLS series WPU061), published by BLS.
Base Period: the index value published for August 2026 (or the month of contract signing, if different) is the Base Value.
Adjustment: at each Adjustment Date, the Current Value is the most recently published three-month average of the index (the Averaging Window). The Escalation Factor equals Current Value divided by Base Value.
Cap: the Escalation Factor applied under this clause shall not exceed 1.10 or fall below 0.90 (a 10% cap and floor) in any single Adjustment Date, regardless of the index's actual movement.
[Replace bracketed terms with your contract's actual affected-portion definition and adjustment-date schedule before use. This is a drafting starting point, not legal advice.]
Base oils have two real named benchmarks, Argus Base Oils and ICIS Base Oils-Lubes, both weekly, both subscription-only. A domestic BLS proxy exists as a free fallback, PCU324191324191 for lubricating oil and grease. There is no confirmed standalone "Argus Additives" product, despite that name circulating informally, so verify the exact report name before citing one in a contract.
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