Metals & Mining Theme, Non-Ferrous

September 04, 2023

Platts to exclude Russian-origin aluminum from CIF Japan quarterly premium assessment

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is to exclude Russian-origin material from its CIF Japan Quarterly Aluminum premium assessment (AAFGA00) from Q4 2023.

Platts first proposed to exclude Russian-origin cargoes from the quarterly premium assessments on June 28 and the subscriber note can be found at: Platts proposes to exclude Russian-origin aluminum from CIF Japan quarterly premium assessment | S&P Global Commodity Insights (spglobal.com)

Market feedback received is that an increasing number of market participants are restricting, or pre-emptively seeking to exclude Russian-origin aluminum, in their CIF Japan trading activity.

Recent feedback from the latest Q3 contract price settlements indicates that Russian-origin trades did not reflect the majority of concluded settlements and no longer reflect a repeatable value. Following this feedback, Platts has decided to exclude Russian material with effect from Q4 2023, revised from its initial proposal of Q1 2024.

Import volumes of Russian-origin metal to Japan have fallen significantly this year, according to Japanese trade statistics. Russian-origin aluminum imports to Japan in H1 fell 62% year on year to 90,060 mt, making up 17% of the total Japanese aluminum imports for the period, as compared with a 30% share in H1 2022.

The following assessments will be affected:

Assessments Code Monthly Average Weekly Average
CIF Japan Forward Quarter Premium AAFGA00 AAFGB00 AAFGA04
CIF Japan Quarter Fixed Price Equivalent (All-in) MMJAQ00 MMJAQ03

Platts has observed that quarterly contract settlements in 2023 have been concluded around one to two months after negotiations start, delaying price settlements beyond the first month of the delivery quarter. Platts will continue to monitor developments after the specification change.

On July 3, 2023, Platts excluded Russian-origin metal from the CIF Japan spot aluminum premium assessment following a separate consultation process relating to the CIF Japan spot market.

Further details are available here: Platts excludes Russian-origin aluminum from CIF Japan spot premium assessment | S&P Global Commodity Insights (spglobal.com).

Please send comments and questions to platts_mjp_moc@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

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