Platts to launch Premium Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam differential Jan 2021

Following a formal public consultation, proposal and review, S&P Global Platts has decided to launch an assessment reflecting the value of T2 FOB Rotterdam ethanol with high greenhouse gas savings, effective January 4, 2021.

GHG savings in the EU are measured as an absolute level of carbon intensity (CI), or as a percentage GHG saving compared to the fossil fuel comparator. This new assessment will reflect ethanol meeting a maximum CI of 18.82g CO2e/MJ. This is currently equivalent to a minimum GHG saving of 80% based on a fossil fuel comparator of 83.8g CO2e/MJ under the European Commission's Renewable Energy Directive (RED) I.

Platts had initially proposed defining the specification of ethanol reflected in this assessment in terms of a minimum GHG saving of 80%. The proposal note published June 2 can be found here:

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/060220-platts-proposes-launch-of-ethanol-t2-fob-rotterdam-minimum-80-ghg-savings-assessment

The new Premium Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam assessment will be published as a differential to the Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam assessment, in Eur/cu m. Apart from product specification, the new assessment will reflect the same assessment parameters as the Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam price, such as volume, location basis and laycan.

This launch follows market feedback demonstrating interest in further transparency in ethanol with greater GHG savings. Although the threshold of GHG savings may differ from country to country in this space and may be impacted by market fundamentals, ethanol with a maximum CI of 18.82g CO2e/MJ was indicated as a level at which the pricing of a differential would be most distinct. This level was also indicated to be relevant to countries that have strong consumption of ethanol with high GHG savings.

Platts launched a formal public consultation on its European T2 ethanol assessments March 16: https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/031620-platts-opens-consultation-on-ethanol-t2-fob-rotterdam-assessments

This new assessment launch is one of three changes to emerge from this consultation, alongside establishing a maximum CI of 33.52g CO2e/MJ in the Platts Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam assessment, and discontinuing the Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam German Spec assessment.

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