Maritime & Shipping, Metals & Mining Theme, Dry Freight, Ferrous
April 01, 2025
Platts proposes to revise moisture levels for iron ore fines netback calculations
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is proposing to revise the implied moisture levels used in deriving the FOB netback calculations for various freight routes and vessel classes from their respective CFR China price assessments, effective July 1, 2025.
The proposed revisions would apply updated moisture content levels for iron ore fines in the wet-to-dry mt conversions of the freight rates, used in netting back the CFR China iron ore prices to an FOB basis.
The FOB netback calculations result from deducting Platts dry bulk freight rate assessments from Platts daily seaborne assessments for 62% Fe, 58% Fe and 65% Fe iron ore fines on a CFR Qingdao, China basis.
Following industry feedback and research, Platts is proposing to revise the moisture content levels as follows:
| Daily symbol for FOB netback assessments | Monthly symbol for FOB netback assessments | Current moisture before July 1, 2025 | Proposed moisture effective July 1, 2025 | |
| IODEX 62% Fe | ||||
| Australia- China Capesize | IONBA00 | IONBA03 | 8.03% | 8% |
| 58% Fe iron ore index | ||||
| West India-China Supramax | IODFA00 | IODFA03 | 11% | 10% |
In addition, Platts is proposing to update the PMA1106 and STL1106 fixed pages to remove shipping routes that do not have a corresponding FOB netback calculation:
| Route and Vessel Type | Quality | Daily symbol | Monthly symbol | Daily symbol fixed pages |
| India East Supramax | 62% Fe | IOEIC00 | IOEIC03 | PMA1106, STL1106 |
| India West Supramax | 62% Fe | IOWIC00 | IOWIC03 | PMA1106, STL1106 |
| Ukraine | 62% Fe | IOBSC00 | IOBSC03 | PMA1106, STL1106 |
The moisture levels for the netback calculations for other delivery routes would remain unchanged.
Full details of the assessments can be found in the Platts Iron Ore Specifications Guide: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/metals/iron-ore-methodology(opens in a new tab).
Details of the iron ore freight rate assessments can be found in Platts Global Freight Specifications Guide: https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/pricing-benchmarks/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/shipping(opens in a new tab)
The assessments and their associated monthly averages are published in the real-time Platts Metals Alert and Platts Steel Alert, in SBB Steel Markets Daily and in the Platts price database. The assessments are included on pages PMA1106 and STL1106, and the monthly averages are on pages PMA1160 and STL1160.
Platts invites feedback, comments, and questions on this proposal to IODEX@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by May 16, 2025.
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.