Platts changes time stamp for Americas container box rate assessments effective Jan. 4, 2021

Platts has changed the time stamp reflected in six Americas-linked container box rate assessments to 1:30 pm Houston time effective Jan 4, 2021.

This follows a proposal note published Nov. 12, 2020 (Platts proposes to change time stamp for Americas container box rate assessments from Jan 4, 2021 | S&P Global Platts), and a decision note published Dec. 1, 2020 (Platts to change time stamp for Americas container box rate assessments from Jan. 4, 2021 | S&P Global Platts).

The assessments originally reflected the transactable value for transporting 40-ft equivalent (FEU) containers at 4:30 pm London time, in line with other Europe-linked container freight assessments. As part of this change, the six affected assessments now follow a US publication schedule from Jan. 4, 2021.

As such, there will be days when one or more assessments used in the calculation of the Platts Container Index – which is based on a weighted average of assessed routes globally – are not published. Platts has decided to not publish the Platts Container Index on days when any of the underlying assessments are not published, from Jan. 4, 2021. Platts had initially proposed to use the previous publication day's spot assessment in the calculation of the index, when a market is not assessed on a particular day.

The change of the assessment time stamp aligns the Americas box rate assessments with the region's trading day and better reflects spot market liquidity on those routes. It also brings them in line with existing Platts Bunker Charge assessments, that factor in Americas bunker fuel prices which have a Market on Close time stamp of 1:30 pm Houston time.

The affected Americas box rate assessments are:

The Americas box rate assessments appear in Dry Freight Wire; on global container fixed pages SHP0510 and PGB3950, and in the Platts price database under the codes above.

Please send any further feedback, comments and questions to containers@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com. For written comments, please provide a clear indication if the comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make written comments not marked as confidential available upon request.