# Product Overview [!button variant="warning" icon="arrow-right" iconAlign="right" target="blank" text="Open the Full Methodology (PDF)"](/static/docs/icc-methodology.pdf) ## What is a Commodity Production Costs report? {#what-is-a-commodity-production-costs-report} !!! Summary A Commodity Production Costs report is a techno-economic assessment of a single industrial process — a bottom-up estimate of the capital investment, operating costs, and product value of manufacturing one commodity by one production route, in one country and one quarter. !!! A Commodity Production Costs report is a techno-economic assessment of a single industrial process: a structured, bottom-up estimate of what it costs to build and run a plant that manufactures a given commodity, and of the [product value](../glossary/p-r.md#product-value) that follows. Each report examines one production route for one commodity, in one country — typically the United States — for one quarter. The analysis rests on a conceptual process design: a representative plant reconstructed from public technical literature, not a specific company's confidential design. From that design the report estimates three things: - **[Capital investment](../glossary/a-c.md#capital-investment)** — the funds required to build the plant and make it operational. - **Operating costs** — raw materials, utilities, labor, maintenance, and the other recurring costs of running it. - **[Product value](../glossary/p-r.md#product-value)** — the price the product would need to sustain that investment, covering all costs plus a return on capital. Every figure is consolidated into a one-page [Production Cost Datasheet](../glossary/p-r.md#production-cost-datasheet). Because it is built from public data and a conceptual design, the report is a preliminary, benchmark-grade estimate — a [Class 4 budgetary estimate](../glossary/a-c.md#class-4-budgetary-estimate) — rather than a detailed engineering document. ## What is a techno-economic assessment? {#what-is-a-techno-economic-assessment} A techno-economic assessment is an analysis of an industrial process from an economic standpoint — an estimate of its operating cost, capital investment, process requirements, and related figures. It joins two views of the same process: the *technical* side (the reactions, equipment, and material and energy flows needed to make the product) and the *economic* side (what those requirements cost to build and to operate). In a Commodity Production Costs report, the technical picture is captured first, as a conceptual process design, and the economics are then estimated from it. The result quantifies how much capital a plant needs, how much it costs to run, and the [product value](../glossary/p-r.md#product-value) that follows — the basis for comparing processes, screening investments, and judging feasibility. ## What decisions can a production cost report support? {#what-decisions-can-a-production-cost-report-support} !!! Summary Production cost reports support early-stage economic decisions — screening investment options, evaluating emerging processes, running feasibility analyses, and planning research — where a reliable cost estimate is needed before committing to detailed engineering. !!! A Commodity Production Costs report is built for preliminary economic evaluation: the stage where options are still being compared and no detailed engineering exists yet. Its documented uses are: - **Screening investment options** — comparing the economics of alternative processes or projects to decide which merit deeper study. - **Evaluating emerging processes** — gauging the preliminary economics of new or developing production technologies. - **Feasibility analysis** — assessing the economic viability of an industrial venture. - **Research planning** — directing research and development effort toward the most economically promising routes. Because every report is built on the same methodology and the same structure, reports also compare directly against one another — for example, weighing two production routes for the same commodity on a consistent cost basis. ## Who uses Commodity Production Costs reports? {#who-uses-commodity-production-costs-reports} !!! Summary The reports serve companies, investors, technology developers, analysts, and researchers who need an independent, preliminary estimate of a commodity's production economics before committing to detailed study. !!! Commodity Production Costs reports serve anyone who needs an independent, preliminary estimate of what a commodity costs to produce, before committing the time and expense of detailed study. Typical readers include: - **Companies and investors** screening industrial investment options and comparing the economics of competing processes. - **Technology developers** evaluating the preliminary economics of emerging or early-stage production routes. - **Analysts and consultants** running economic feasibility studies for industrial ventures. - **Researchers** planning where to focus process-development effort. The reports are self-service: each is a self-contained PDF that presents its analysis in full, without an analyst needing to interpret it. ## Can a report be used as a process design package? {#can-a-report-be-used-as-a-process-design-package} No. A Commodity Production Costs report is a preliminary economic evaluation, and it must not be used as a process design package, a design basis, or a front-end engineering design (FEED) package. The difference is the level of engineering detail. The report reconstructs a *conceptual* process design — enough to estimate costs to a benchmark, [Class 4 budgetary](../glossary/a-c.md#class-4-budgetary-estimate) accuracy — from public information. A design package, by contrast, specifies a plant to the level of detail an engineering contractor needs to build it. The report answers "is this roughly worth pursuing?", not "how exactly is this plant built?". !!!secondary A production cost report supports preliminary economic decisions — screening, feasibility, and comparison. It is not engineering documentation and does not replace a design basis, a FEED package, or a licensor's process design. !!! ## Coverage and Catalog {#coverage-and-catalog} ### What does a single report cover? {#what-does-a-single-report-cover} !!! Summary Each report covers one production route for one commodity, in one country (typically the United States) and one quarter — estimating that process's capital investment, operating costs, and product value. !!! Each Commodity Production Costs report covers a single, precisely scoped case: - **One commodity** — the product being manufactured. - **One production route** — the specific process used to make it (a commodity can be produced by more than one route). - **One country** — the location whose costs, prices, and wages are applied, typically the United States. - **One quarter** — the period of analysis the figures represent. Within that scope, the report estimates the process's [capital investment](../glossary/a-c.md#capital-investment), operating costs, and [product value](../glossary/p-r.md#product-value), consolidated in the [Production Cost Datasheet](../glossary/p-r.md#production-cost-datasheet). The catalog is organized as a hierarchy that mirrors this scope: a quarterly **Series** holds **Volumes** (one per commodity), each Volume holds **Issues** (one per production route), and each Issue is analyzed per country. Across the full catalog, 850+ reports span 260+ commodities in ten industries, with companion reports extending the same analyses to 33 countries — all browsable by industry on the Commodity Production Costs product page. ### Why are there several reports for the same commodity? {#why-are-there-several-reports-for-the-same-commodity} !!! Summary A single commodity can be made by more than one production route, and each route can be analyzed in more than one country — so one commodity maps to several distinct reports. !!! A commodity is not tied to a single report, because it can be manufactured in more than one way and analyzed in more than one place. In the catalog structure, a **Volume** groups all reports for one commodity, and within it each **Issue** covers a different **production route** — a distinct process for making that same product. Each route can then be analyzed for different countries. !!!success *Ethylene glycol can be produced by several routes; one report might cover a conventional route while another covers production from carbon dioxide. Each route is a separate analysis, because its equipment, raw materials, and economics differ.* !!! Several reports for one commodity are therefore not duplicates — each captures a different process, or a different country, with its own cost structure, which is exactly what makes them worth comparing. ### Can a report be requested for a commodity not listed? {#can-a-report-be-requested-for-a-commodity-not-listed} Yes. When a commodity, production process, or location is not already in the catalog, it can be commissioned as a **bespoke report**. The client defines the scope — the commodity, the production route, and the location — and provides a main technical reference for the process; the Intratec team then carries out the analysis using the data it already holds, applying the same methodology as the standard catalog reports. The result is a report built to the same structure and standards as any published one, covering a case chosen by the client.