Changes to Platts FOB Black Sea, FOB Turkey steel wire rod mesh assessments

S&P Global Platts has changed the specifications of its FOB Black Sea and FOB Turkey steel wire rod mesh quality assessments to better reflect current market conditions, with effect from Feb. 9.

At the same time, Platts has increased the frequency of its FOB Black Sea wire rod assessment to weekly, on Fridays, from the current monthly frequency. The last monthly assessment date was Jan. 1.

Platts originally proposed the changes Dec. 16, 2021 in a subscriber note available here:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/121621-platts-changes-specifications-for-two-emea-steel-wire-rod-assessments

Platts published the decision note on Jan. 13, 2022 in a subscriber note available here:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/011322-changes-to-s-p-global-platts-fob-black-sea-fob-turkey-steel-wire-rod-mesh-assessments

The specification updates are:

Wire rod mesh quality Black Sea export (SB01243)

Volume: 3,000-5,000 mt from 500 mt

Dimensions: 5.5-16 mm from 5.5-6 mm

Frequency: weekly (Fridays) from monthly

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

Volume: 3,000-5,000 mt from 500 mt

For both assessments, 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. Please address any questions or comments to ferrous_emea@spglobal.com and pricegroup@platts.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.