Changes to S&P Global Platts FOB Black Sea, FOB Turkey steel wire rod mesh assessments

S&P Global Platts will change the specifications of its FOB Black Sea and FOB Turkey steel wire rod mesh quality assessments to better reflect current market conditions.

At the same time, Platts will increase the frequency of its FOB Black Sea wire rod assessment to weekly on Fridays from the current monthly frequency. The changes take effect from Feb. 9, 2022.

The specification updates are:

Wire rod mesh quality Black Sea export (SB01243)

• Frequency: weekly (Fridays) from monthly
• Volume: 3,000-5,000 mt from 500 mt
• Dimensions: 5.5-16 mm from 5.5-6 mm

Wire rod mesh quality Turkey Export FOB Turkish port (SB01251)

• Volume: 3,000-5,000 mt from 500 mt

Platts will consider pricing information for cargoes of other qualities and for other load ports and trading locations, and will normalize these to its standard specifications. Information on adjacent markets may also be considered in the assessment process as a supplement to data concerning the primary market. Normalization for quality, dimensions and cargo size is done based on current differentials applied in the market, and locational normalization may make use of freight netbacks and freight forwards. Information about known export taxes and rebates is also considered in the assessment process. The affected prices are published in the Steel Business Briefing, Steel Price Report and via Platts Metals alerts.