jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6
68867894e9
All 36 commodity stubs fleshed out with lore context, production chain descriptions, and economic intelligence briefing voice. Key treatments: fusion_fuel (D-187 8:1 ratio), services (location-bound mechanics), brands distinguished from commodities per D-185. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
1.8 KiB
Chemical Feedstock
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Chemical Feedstock |
| Tier | raw |
| Elasticity | unit_elastic |
| Base Price (Tractus) | 12 |
| Bulk Class | liquid |
| Unit | tonnes |
| Production Ubiquity | common |
| Demand Model | market |
| Commission Certified | Yes |
| Compact Contested | Yes |
| Shadow Viable | Yes |
| Panic Threshold (weeks) | 0 |
| Description | Industrial gases, reaction mass, solvents. Hazmat certification required. |
Chemical feedstock covers industrial gases, reactive solvents, chemical precursors, and reaction mass extracted from planetary atmospheres, gas giants, and geological deposits. The primary production path for chemicals and pharmaceuticals runs through feedstock at a 2:1 input ratio — two tonnes of feedstock yield one tonne of processed output, making feedstock availability a direct determinant of a system's chemical production capacity.
Commission certification is required for formal sale and transport, based on hazmat classification and dual-use concerns. This is where the Compact friction enters: Compact member systems contest Commission authority over industrial chemicals as an overreach on internal industrial policy, and certification costs — Tractus-denominated regardless of the buyer's currency zone — represent friction that accumulates at scale for Mark-primary systems. The result is a functioning shadow market for uncertified feedstock in Compact territory, priced below formal channels to offset the certification risk.
The organic compounds substitution route reduces feedstock dependency for chemical production on biosphere-rich worlds (0.8 output yield versus 1.0 via feedstock), which means feedstock price spikes don't cascade uniformly through the chemical chain. Systems with viable organic compound production absorb shocks; feedstock-dependent systems do not.