13 Mar 2019 | 13:50 UTC — New York

SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts clarifies MOC guidelines for Iron Ore assessments

S&P Global Platts is clarifying the guidelines for its Market on Close (MOC) assessment process for iron ore in Asia, including its benchmark IODEX assessments.
The guidelines are aimed at bringing greater clarity to the assessment process.
Besides information published in the MOC, Platts editors also engage directly with producers, consumers, traders, brokers and shippers to gather price information.
Platts will publish bids, offers and interest to trade from approved participants in the Iron Ore MOC process in line with the following editorial standards and guidelines.
For more information on the counterparty review process, please visit https://www.platts.com/market-on-close.
Entities that wish to report bids or offers in the MOC should contact pricegroup@spglobal.com

Timing and Increments

As part of the MOC process, buyers and sellers must submit any bids or offers with complete information to Platts editors by phone, instant-message or email before 5:00 pm Singapore time (0900 GMT).


Bids and offers can then only be raised or lowered in set increments defined in the iron ore MOC timing and increment guidelines available at https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/metals/iron-ore-moc-timing-and-increment-guidelines.


Counterparties can improve the price of their published bids and offers by up to 25 cents/dmt at a minimum interval of every 5 minutes for iron ore fines and pellets.


Price adjustments must be at least 5 cents/dmt. If the bid or offer is index-linked, the maximum incremental change per 5 minutes is 10 cents/dmt.


Counterparties can improve the price of their published bids and offers by up to $0.005/dmtu at a minimum interval of every 5 minutes for lumps.


Price adjustment must be at least $0.001/dmtu for iron ore lump.


Counterparties can improve the price of their published bids and offers by up to Yuan 2.5/dmt at a minimum interval of every 2 minutes for port stocks.


Price adjustment must be at least one yuan for port stocks.


No price changes are allowed during the final 5 minutes of the MOC that concludes at 5:30 pm Singapore time (0930 GMT) for fines, lumps and pellets and during the final 2 minutes of the MOC for port stocks.


Buyers and sellers may withdraw their bids or offers at any time during the MOC by communicating the same to Platts editors.


Counterparties must clearly communicate their interest to trade a published bid or offer to Platts editors.


Platts MOC guidelines are a key component of its assessment methodology, essential to an orderly and transparent price assessment process.


Iron Ore Timing Guidelines

Product Bids/Offers due for entry Cut-off price change Time to repeat order No more price changes Market Closes
Medium Grade Fines (IODEX) 16:59:59 17:24:59 60 seconds 17:25:00 17:29:59
Low Grade Fines (58%) 16:59:59 17:24:59 60 seconds 17:25:00 17:29:59
High Grade Fines (65%) 16:59:59 17:24:59 60 seconds 17:25:00 17:29:59
Lump 16:59:59 17:24:59 60 seconds 17:25:00 17:29:59
Pellet 16:59:59 17:24:59 60 seconds 17:25:00 17:29:59
Medium Grade Fines (E.C. IOPEX) 16:59:59 17:27:59 30 seconds 17:28:00 17:29:59
Medium Grade Fines (N.C. IOPEX) 16:59:59 17:27:59 30 seconds 17:28:00 17:29:59


Iron Ore Increment Guidelines

Volume (mt) Increment
Product Min Max Min Max Time to repeat order Unit Frequency
Medium Grade Fines (IODEX) 50,000 no max 5 25* 60 seconds cents/dmt per 5 minutes
Low Grade Fines (58%) 50,000 no max 5 25* 60 seconds cents/dmt per 5 minutes
High Grade Fines (65%) 50,000 no max 5 25* 60 seconds cents/dmt per 5 minutes
Lump 50,000 no max 0.001 0.005 60 seconds $/dmtu per 5 minutes
Pellet 35,000 no max 5 25 60 seconds cents/dmt per 5 minutes
Medium Grade Fines (E.C. IOPEX) 5,000 50,000 1 2.5 30 seconds RMB/wmt per 2 minutes
Medium Grade Fines (N.C. IOPEX) 5,000 50,000 1 2.5 30 seconds RMB/wmt per 2 minutes
* If index-linked (spread), maximum increment is 10 cents per 5 minutes

Volume, Location and Laycan

Brand Volume (mt) Bid Loading Laycan Offer Loading Laycan
MAC Fines 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
Newman Fines 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
Jimblebar Fines 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
PB Fines 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
PB Fines 170,000-190,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
BRBF Fines 170,000 minimum 30 days standard 10 day laycan
IOCJ Fines 170,000 minimum 20 days standard 10 day laycan
Newman Lumps 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
PB Lumps 80,000-90,000 minimum 15 days standard 10 day laycan
Pellets minimum 35,000 minimum 30 days standard 10 day laycan
Port Stocks 5,000-50,000 NA NA

Deals, bids and offers to contain information on

Seller, Buyer, Delivery Terms (Port location and Incoterm), Delivery Window, Quantity (Metric Tonnes), Quality (in Fe, SiO2, Al2O3, S, P), Price on fixed or floating price basis (in $/dmt or $/dmtu or RMB/dmt), Credit Terms and Other Terms.

Example Format

Iron Ore MOC: 62%-Fe Australian Pilbara Blend fines – Buyer A offers at $74.95/dmt CFR Qingdao, 170,000 mt, loadport laycan Jan 30-Feb 08, 2019



GT&Cs

Counterparties are expected to perform on trades reported in the MOC based on typical GT&Cs and credit terms that have been applied and accepted by both counterparties in the open market.


If an offer is lifted by a buyer during the Platts MOC process, Platts would expect typical GT&Cs and credit terms between both parties to be applicable, even where the GT&Cs and credit terms stated in the originally published offer may differ, if the companies have not conventionally performed on the published terms.


For more information on Platts Iron Ore benchmark prices and how they are assessed, please visit:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/metals/iron-ore-methodology

Information on Iron Ore MOC bids, offers and trades and can be submitted to Platts editors via

IODEX@spglobal.com.

All information published in the MOC is freely available via

https://iron-ore-moc.plattslabs.io/news

.


All Iron Ore data points collected and published by Platts, including non-MOC data, can be found on Page 700 of Platts Metal Alert (PMA).


Please send any feedback or questions to

IODEX@spglobal.com

and

pricegroup@spglobal.com

.


For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing.


Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.