Data Formats and Delivery
How can I access the price data?
Price data is accessible through four delivery methods, with availability depending on the subscription plan.
Online Charts are available on all plans and allow dynamic data exploration from any browser or device. You can hover over data points, toggle between views, convert currencies and units, and group data by month, quarter, or year.
Excel Add-In and Power BI integration (Advanced and Ultimate) let you pull price data directly into your existing spreadsheet models and dashboards without manual data entry. REST Web API (Advanced and Ultimate) enables programmatic access for ERP systems, automation tools, and custom applications.
All plans also include the ability to download chart images as JPG or PNG files.
Is there an Excel add-in for this product?
The Excel Add-In is available on Advanced and Ultimate plans and lets you retrieve the latest price data directly inside Microsoft Excel with a single button click.
The Add-In integrates with your existing spreadsheet models — no restructuring is required. It works on both Windows and Mac (Excel version 16.0 or later) and supports multiple devices, so any team member with the developer credentials can use it.
Data is organized using templates, each of which can hold up to 40 assessment codes. You select the assessments you want, configure preferred currency and unit settings, and click Get Series Values to populate the template with current data. Connection modes (Enabled, Test, Disabled) let you validate your setup without consuming data requests.
The Add-In uses a ribbon interface rather than cell-level functions. It does not push data in the background — retrieval is user-initiated, which gives you full control over request usage.
The Excel Add-In is included at no additional cost with the Advanced plan.
Can I connect this data to Power BI?
Power BI integration is available on Advanced and Ultimate plans. Pre-configured .pbix project files are provided so you can start enriching your dashboards immediately — no setup is required.
To get started, assign the Developer role to a user in your subscription, then follow the product-specific Power BI setup guide. A courtesy account is included for testing the dashboards before connecting to your actual subscription data.
The .pbix files are open-source and fully customizable: you can modify Power Queries to adjust data retrieval and build dashboards tailored to your reporting needs. All historical data available under your plan is accessible through the integration.
Power BI access is included at no additional cost with the Advanced plan.
Can I download data as a spreadsheet?
Monthly Downloadable Spreadsheets are available exclusively on the Ultimate plan. Each month, ready-to-use spreadsheet files are uploaded to your user area so you always have access to the latest data without any integration setup.
To download them, log in, navigate to Your Products, and download the current spreadsheet files directly.
This feature is separate from the Excel Add-In (which retrieves data on demand via templates). Downloadable Spreadsheets are pre-built files updated on the monthly release cycle — a convenient option for users who prefer working with static exports rather than live integrations.
Starter, Pro, and Advanced plan subscribers do not have access to this feature.
Is there an API for this product?
A REST Web API is available on Advanced and Ultimate plans for programmatic access to price data.
The API returns JSON responses and is compatible with popular programming languages including JavaScript, Python, Ruby, C#, PHP, Go, and R. It also integrates with workflow automation tools such as Microsoft Logic Apps, N8N, and Zapier, making it straightforward to incorporate price data into ERP systems or internal pipelines.
Access is structured around a developer role: the subscription owner assigns the Developer role to a designated user, who then authenticates with the API to retrieve data. The API provides access to the same assessments available through the online charts.
The API is included at no additional cost with the Advanced plan.
How many API requests do I get per month?
API requests are counted per industry per month and are shared across your Excel Add-In, Power BI, and API usage combined.
The Advanced plan includes Tier 10 by default (10 requests per industry per month). Higher tiers are available as upgrades:
The Ultimate plan includes 500+ requests per industry per month, with up to 20 API users.
How limits work:
- The limit is non-cumulative — unused requests do not carry over to the next month.
- Limits reset when new data is published (i.e., on the monthly release day, not on a calendar date).
- Requests are not interchangeable between industries — each industry has its own allowance.
- Excel Add-In, Power BI, and API requests all draw from the same pool.
If your Advanced plan covers one industry with Tier 10 enabled and you retrieve 3 commodity price assessments via the Excel Add-In, you have 7 requests remaining for that industry until the next release.
To add more requests, upgrade to a higher tier via Subscriptions Billing > Upgrade Plan in your account. An Extra Automation Package can also be purchased at any time.
Sandbox requests and informational operations (such as querying available series metadata) do not count toward the monthly limit.
Can I download price data as a PDF?
PDF download is available on Pro, Advanced, and Ultimate plans. The access level varies by plan:
PDFs are generated from the data table view in the online charts interface. On all plans, chart images can also be downloaded as JPG or PNG files.
If you need a portable, offline-ready export of raw data (not just a visual), the Ultimate plan also includes Monthly Downloadable Spreadsheets — pre-built spreadsheet files uploaded each month to your user area.
Can I group price data by quarter or year?
Data grouping is available on all plans. In the online charts interface, you can switch the time interval between monthly, quarterly, and yearly views directly from the chart customization controls below each chart.
This makes it straightforward to aggregate monthly price series into quarterly or annual averages — useful for financial modeling, budget planning, or presenting trends at a higher level of granularity.
The grouping option applies to both chart and table views, so you can also download a quarterly or annual PDF (on Pro and above) or export the grouped chart as a JPG or PNG image.
Can I convert prices to other currencies?
Currency conversion is available on all plans. In the online charts interface, you can switch the display currency for any commodity price directly from the chart customization panel — options include EUR, JPY, GBP, and other major currencies. The conversion applies to both chart and table views.
When using the Excel Add-In, you can also set a preferred currency for each assessment in your templates. The same applies to API requests for Primary Commodity Prices, where currency selection is supported per series. Available currencies for each assessment are listed in the assessment info sheets.
Can I change the unit of measure on the charts?
Unit conversion is available on all plans. In the online charts interface, you can switch the unit of measure for any commodity price from the chart customization panel — common options include kg, lb, and metric ton. Available units vary by commodity.
When using the Excel Add-In, you can specify the desired unit for each assessment in your templates — the available units for each series are listed in the assessment info sheets. Unit selection is also supported for Primary Commodity Prices when using the API.
Does the Excel add-in update automatically?
The Excel Add-In retrieves the most current data available under your subscription when you click Get Series Values in the Intratec Data ribbon. Because data is published monthly, clicking this button after the release date always returns the latest values — there is no need to reconfigure anything or wait for a background sync.
The Add-In does not update in the background automatically. Data retrieval is user-initiated, which gives you full control over when requests are made. This matters because each retrieval counts toward your monthly data request limit, which is shared across Excel Add-In, Power BI, and API usage.
To avoid consuming requests unnecessarily, use Test connection mode when setting up or validating templates — this returns dummy data and does not count against your limit. You can also check the Usage Limits sheet in the Add-In to monitor how many requests remain in the current cycle.