Subscriber note: Platts to discontinue some Asia, Mideast MDO assessments

Following industry feedback, Platts will discontinue marine diesel assessments for some Asian and Middle Eastern ports. The assessments will be discontinued from February 1, 2013. Platts has been assessing MDO for several Asian ports since 1986. Since that time, industry practice has evolved and MDO typically now accounts for less than 1% of bunker fuel supplied at major ports in Asia and the Middle East. In 2011, MDO accounted for 0.02% of all bunker fuel sold in Singapore, according to data from the Maritime Port Authority. Platts will discontinue MDO assessments for Fujairah, Hong Kong, Khor Fakkan, Kuwait, South Korea, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne. Platts will retain the MDO assessments for Japan and West Japan. At the same time, Platts will launch an assessment for marine gasoil for Kuwait, where MGO is the standard marine distillate grade traded. These assessments are currently published on Platts Global Alert, Platts Bunkerwire and in the Platts price assessment database. For a complete list of all effected assessments please see the table below. Please send comments and questions to asia_bunkers@platts.com and pricegroup@platts.com. DATABASE SYMBOL ASSESSMENT PBABP00 Fujairah Marine Diesel POACB00 Hong Kong Marine Diesel KPOACM00 Khor Fakkan Marine Diesel POACN00 Kuwait Marine Diesel POADP00 South Korea Marine Diesel POADQ00 Singapore Marine Diesel POADU00 Sydney Marine Diesel POAEZ00 Melbourne Marine Diesel