SUBSCRIBER NOTE: Platts launches daily FOB China HRC steel assessments Jun 1

Platts will increase the frequency of assessment for the hot-rolled coil steel FOB China price assessment (STHRZ02) to daily, effective June 1, 2015. Prior to this, the assessment was had been published weekly on Thursdays.

The change reflects the growth in China's HRC exports sold on a spot basis. Chinese exports have gained in pricing importance as they influence export and domestic prices of other countries in the region.

The specifications of the assessments reflect SS400 or equivalent coil of 3-mm thickness and 1,200-1,500-mm width. The location basis specified is FOB Tianjin, and the cargo size will be 5,000 mt. Payment terms are L/C at sight. Cargoes for shipment between one to two months forward from the date of publication are considered for assessment.

Platts will also publish a new assessment (STHRY00) reflecting the premium that SAE1006 or equivalent coil 2-mm thick commands over SS400 coil of the specifications clarified above. The premium will be derived from Platts assessment of SAE1006 coil, normalized to the same location, quantity, cargo size and payment terms specified for the SS400 assessment. It will be published daily.

Platts will consider for assessment deals, bids and offers for cargoes of other qualities and sizes, and loading from other Chinese ports, and normalize them to the standard specifications.

Normalization for quality, dimensions and cargo size will be done based on current premiums and discounts applied by the market, and locational normalization will use freight differentials between ports along China's coast, as well as freight netbacks and forwards. Information about known tax rebates will also be considered in the assessment process.

The assessments will be published in Platts Steel Price Report, Platts Steel Markets Daily, Platts Price Analyzer, Platts Metals Alert page 1198 and Platts Market Data.

The assessments will follow the Chinese public holiday calendar, with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays designated as working days in lieu of certain weekday holidays, because trading activity with counterparties overseas tends to be limited.

Please send all feedback, queries and comments to keith.tan@platts.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.