EVE: PI Economics Overview, part 1 Demand

I'm splitting my review of PI economics into parts. Today I'll look at how the nature of what PI materials are used for will shape the PI economy. To understand the future price trends of the market we need to first look at where these materials are used.

POS Fuels

Not actually manufactured, but an intermediate planetary product. Usable immediately as POS fuel

* Coolant
* Enriched Uranium
* Mechanical Parts
* Oxygen
* Robotics


T2 parts

Most T2 manufacturing uses a PI good. Mainly P2 and P3.

* Construction Blocks
* Consumer Electronics
* Transmitter
* Guidance Systems
* Robotics
* Miniature Electronics
* Super Conductor


Miscellaneous

Created with Blueprint and PI products

* Nanite Repair Paste


Sovereignty Structures

Created with Blueprints and P4 products.

* Infrastructure Hub
* Sovereignty Blockade Unit
* Territorial Claim Unit


Starbase Structures

Created with Blueprints and P4 products.

* Assembly Array
* Control Towers
* Corporate Hangar Array
* Cynosural Generator Array
* Cynosural System Jammer
* Electronic Warfare Batteries
* Energy Neutralizing Array
* Hybrid Turret Batteries
* Jump Bridges
* Laser Turret Batteries
* Missile Batteries
* Mobile Laboratory
* Moon Harvesting Array
* Projectile Turret Batteries
* Reactors
* Refining Arrays
* Shield Hardening Arrays
* Ship Maintenance Arrays
* Silos
* System Scanning Arrays

(credit to Eve University)

POS fuel is likely to be supplied by the owner of the POS or a member of his corp. This is simply because POSes are a more advanced stage of the industrial game and PI is easily accessible. Most POS owners will not want to rely on the market for their fuel.

Nanite Repair Paste is a marginal item. It is used by pvpers to repair overheated modules when it's not safe to dock. Docking is cheaper and more convenient. That's a fairly limited demand and there are large pre-existing stockpiles.

T2 manufacture mainly uses P2s that drop as loot in missions. This means that supplying the market for these goods is subject to competition from mission runners who will cheerfully sell cheap to get whatever they can for this incidental loot. There are large pre-existing stockpiles of mission loot. Also, as with POS fuel, T2 manufacture is done by advanced industrialist players most of whom will do PI for themselves.

Therefore structures are where most of the money will be spent buying PI goods. There may be a particular crunch on Sovereignty Structures as they are used by people who don't make them. Stockpiling SBUs and then timing your supply of them to markets that support nullsec players who become involved in major wars should be a very viable tactic. For instance next time the Northern Coalition gets invaded you should be able to sell a lot of SBUs in Vuorassi since that is the closest high sec system to the NC staging post at H-W.

SBUs are used both offensively and defensively and are consumed by use. Many more of this structure will be used than of the other two sov structures. This is the materials list for a SBU:

Capital Construction Parts: 5
Broadcast Node: 13
Integrity Response Drones: 9
Nano-Factory: 19
Organic Mortar Applicators: 19
Recursive Computing Module: 13
Self-Harmonizing Power Core: 13
Sterile Conduits: 19
Wetware Mainframe: 9

Note that the quantities are quite uneven. The P4s where 19 are needed per SBU are likely to spike in price during times of major nullsec war.

POSes are very widely used and have a similarly uneven pattern of P4 use. Large control towers use:

Capital Construction Parts: 8
Broadcast Node: 18
Integrity Response Drones: 32
Nano-Factory: 26
Organic Mortar Applicators: 28
Recursive Computing Module: 18
Self-Harmonizing Power Core: 18
Sterile Conduits: 28
Wetware Mainframe: 12

All races uses the same materials; medium towers use half as much and small towers approximately one third as much.

So we can project the market's demand for PI materials as being quite skewed. Nano-Factory, Organic Mortar Applicators and Sterile Conduits will see more heavy demand than other p4s, especially in time of heavy nullsec fighting.

In my next post I'll be looking at the supply to the market which will also be skewed.