Glossary: H-L
Definitions of Intratec methodology and product terms from H to L.
H
- Heat
- Energy produced directly (for example, from geothermal sources) or as a by-product of fuel combustion; used for heating, industrial processes, and energy systems.
- Heavy Oils
- High-density petroleum products, such as fuel oil, that require specialized handling; one of the five maritime freight categories in Intratec energy assessments, traveling under "dirty freight" conditions — tankers carrying unrefined or residual oil products.
- HFCE Per Capita (PPP)
- Household Final Consumption Expenditure per person, adjusted for purchasing power parity, isolating realized spending power.
- Hydro Energy
- Electricity generated by converting the kinetic energy of flowing water through turbines; one of the most reliable renewable sources.
- Hydrocarbon Gas Liquids (HGL)
- One of the five maritime freight categories in Intratec energy assessments: hydrocarbon gases shipped as pressurized liquids in specialized tankers. Freight categories group energy commodities by the physical and chemical properties that determine vessel type.
I
- Import Market Dispersion Index
- A measure of how geographically diversified a country's import sources are; higher values indicate a broader supplier base.
- Import Protection
- The trade-weighted average tariff a country applies on incoming goods, measuring the protective shelter given to domestic producers.
- Imports, Exports, And Net Trade
- The energy quantities physically crossing a national boundary through transactions by entities residing in the country; Net Trade = Imports − Exports, with positive values indicating a net importer and negative values a net exporter. Tracked per energy commodity in the Energy Prices & Markets program.
- Incoterm
- A standardized international-trade term, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, that fixes which party bears the cost, risk, and responsibility for goods at each stage of delivery; the delivery basis of a price assessment is stated as an Incoterm — for example cfr, cif, ddp, or dpu.
- Indicator
- A single metric normalized across the benchmarked Universe of countries to produce a 0–100 value; the building block from which Industry Economics & Competitiveness components and pillar scores are constructed.
- Indirect Costs
- Plant-construction costs required for orderly project completion but not becoming a final physical part of the installation, such as field indirects, engineering costs, overhead, and contract fees.
- Indirect Pay
- The sum of voluntary benefits, legally required benefits and taxes, and employer burden.
- Industrial Competitiveness
- A country's structural ability to manufacture commodity products at lower cost and with greater market access than its peers; the Industry Economics & Competitiveness program measures it across the Base pillars (structural conditions common to all industries) and the Industry-Specific pillars (sector economics).
- Industrial Utilities Component
- The aggregated unit cost of core manufacturing utilities (such as steam, compressed air, industrial gases, and water services), each normalized to a 0-100 scale.
- Industry Composite
- The equal-weighted average of the 6 Industry-Specific pillar scores for a single commodity family in an Industry Economics & Competitiveness assessment; one composite is produced per commodity family, capturing how that sector's market dynamics shape competitiveness in the country.
- Industry Economics & Competitiveness
- The Intratec program that produces recurring country and industry competitiveness assessments, delivered as monthly country-specific reports.
- Industry Score
- The equal-weighted average of a country's Base Pillars Score and its Industry Composite for a given commodity family; the central Industry Economics & Competitiveness output, enabling comparison of a country's competitiveness across sectors and against peers within the same sector.
- Industry-Specific Pillar
- One of the 6 pillars evaluated separately per commodity family: Commodity Prices, Feedstock-to-Product Margins, Industrial Production, Global Trade Integration, Tariff Protection & Market Access, and Domestic Market Size. The term may also be called Specific Pillar or SP.
- Inland Freight Component
- The blended unit rate for road and rail freight, weighted by total freight volume per mode.
- Inland Transportation
- A component of the Logistics & Infrastructure pillar in the Industry Economics & Competitiveness program, measuring the scale, density, and throughput of a country's road and rail networks as a proxy for domestic reach and capacity.
- ISBL (Inside Battery Limits)
- The core process units of an industrial plant; in Commodity Production Costs reports, ISBL investment covers the process-unit area inside the battery limits and feeds plant-cost estimates.
K
- Kerosenes
- Middle-distillate petroleum products used in aviation (jet fuel), heating, and lighting; valued for stability and clean combustion.
- Key Process Indicators
- Process metrics used in Commodity Production Costs reports to connect the technical model to the economic estimate, including raw-material consumption, utility consumption, and product generation per amount of main product.
L
- Labor Productivity Factor
- A dimensionless multiplier applied to labor cost in the Industry Economics & Competitiveness program to reflect workforce efficiency; the most productive countries sit at the baseline, and higher values mean more labor hours are required for the same output. Applied separately to manufacturing labor and construction labor.
- Light Oils
- Low-density refined petroleum products — such as gasoline, naphtha, and kerosene — that are easier to handle and transport; in freight assessments they fall under "clean freight" conditions, requiring tanks free from heavy-oil residues.
- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
- Natural gas cooled to liquid form for maritime transport; one of the five maritime freight categories in Intratec energy assessments, shipped as a cryogenic liquid in dedicated LNG carriers.
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
- Flammable hydrocarbon gases, such as propane and butane, used in heating, cooking, transport, and industry.
- Liquid Biofuels
- Biofuels in liquid form: ethanol produced from crops such as corn, biodiesel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats, and renewable diesel, which closely resembles petroleum diesel in chemical composition.
- Liquid Fuels
- One of the five maritime freight categories in Intratec energy assessments: liquid energy commodities transported by tanker. See what freight categories are used.
- Location Basis
- The delivery point or market location represented by a price assessment — the location component of an assessment basis; Primary Commodity Prices normalizes source data so each published value reflects the location basis assigned to that commodity series.
- Logistics & Infrastructure Factor
- A multiplier reflecting the impact of logistical efficiency on project execution; higher values indicate greater logistics friction relative to the most efficient countries.
- Logistics System Efficiency
- A component of the Logistics & Infrastructure pillar in the Industry Economics & Competitiveness program, measuring the ratio of economic output to liquid-fuel consumption as a proxy for modal-mix efficiency and reduced logistical friction.