Platts discontinues FOB China 90 RON gasoline assessment, amends 93 RON to 92 RON

S&P Global Platts has discontinued the South China 90 RON gasoline assessment and changed the South China 93 RON gasoline assessment to reflect a 92 RON grade from August 3, 2020.

This launch follows on from a decision note published on June 8, available here: http://plts.co/rvnP30r1lEy

Platts has renamed the FOB South China 93 RON gasoline assessment to 92 RON. The renamed 92 RON assessment will carry the same price symbol code as the current 93 RON assessment.

Platts has also amended the cargo size, timing, and added specifications in the renamed South China 92 RON gasoline assessment.

The renamed 92 RON assessment will reflect 30,000-40,000 mt MR-sized 92 RON oxygenated gasoline cargoes loading 20-35 days forward, with guaranteed specifications adhering to China's National Phase 5 standards, where parameters include maximum 10 ppm sulfur content, benzene at maximum 1% by volume, aromatics at maximum 40% by volume and olefins at maximum 24% by volume.

Cargoes that differ from this specification will be considered for assessment and normalized to reflect the above quality.

The previous 93 RON assessment reflected 25,000-30,000 mt 93 RON gasoline cargoes loading 15-30 days forward.

The ports reflected in the South China assessment include Huizhou, Dongguan, Qinzhou, Quanzhou and Hainan. Cargo loadings from these ports will be considered for assessment, while loadings from other ports will be normalized to Huizhou basis.

The assessment will reflect market value at the close of Asian trade at 4:30 pm Singapore time (0830 GMT) and follows the Singapore publishing schedule.

The discontinuation of 90 RON gasoline assessment and renaming of 93 RON to 92 RON grade come as exports of 90 RON and 93 RON gasoline from China have ceased, and replaced predominantly by 92 RON gasoline and some 91 RON gasoline. In particular, South China became a regular source of spot 92 RON gasoline cargoes after CNOOC completed expansion of its Huizhou refinery in late 2017.

This market typically trades at a differential to Singapore 92 RON unleaded assessments. Starting August 3, 2020, Platts will publish an outright price for FOB South China 92 RON gasoline in $/mt, rounded to the nearest 25 cents/mt using a conversion factor of 8.5.

The following assessments have been discontinued.

ASSESSMENT CODE MAVG

Gasoline Unl 90 FOB South China AAICU00 AAICV00

The 93 RON assessment has been renamed to 92 RON. The code remains unchanged.

ASSESSMENT CODE MAVG

Gasoline Unl 92 FOB South China AAICW00 AAICX00

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