Platts seeks feedback on fungibility of Russian origin ethanol

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is seeking feedback on whether Russian material is part of the open spot market reflected in Platts European benchmark ethanol assessments.

Platts has observed that an increasing number of market participants are restricting material from Russia, in part or entirely, in their spot ethanol trading activity. Platts has also observed that Russian-origin ethanol does not meet the basis definition of fungible material in the context of its T2 FOB Rotterdam ethanol assessment.

Platts is seeking immediate feedback on whether its T2 FOB Rotterdam ethanol assessments should continue to include Russian-origin material, or whether it should reflect the market move toward trading non-Russian material.

Platts is also seeking specific feedback on how companies in the T2 FOB Rotterdam ethanol market evidence the origin of ethanol and the impact of this evidencing process of market practices such as, but not limited to, mass-balancing Proofs of Sustainability (PoS), comingling in storage, and the use of Intertank Transfers (ITTs) as a common delivery mechanism.

Unless otherwise stated, Platts benchmark assessments in these markets currently reflect an open-origin basis, which could potentially include Russian-origin supply. All Platts assessments reflect merchantable and legal commodities.

Please send all feedback, questions, or comments by January 30, 2023, to Europe_Ags@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 to the public upon request.