Platts to extend FOB Korea benzene derivatives assessments to six months forward, starting Jan 3

S&P Global Platts has decided to extend the assessment of the FOB Korea benzene derivatives to six months forward from the date of publication, effective Jan. 3, 2022, to provide further transparency on the forward curve.

Platts currently publishes assessments for balance of the month (M0) and next three months forward (M1, M2, M3). As part of the change, Platts will add M4, M5 and M6 assessments. Platts has observed sustained increased liquidity on these contracts.

Platts proposed the new assessments on Oct. 19 in a subscriber note published here https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/101921-platts-proposes-to-extend-fob-korea-benzene-derivatives-assessments-to-six-months-forward.

Platts originally proposed these new assessments to start on Dec. 1. In view of the feedback received Platts will now launch the extended derivatives assessment on Jan. 3, 2022.

The new assessments will reflect the daily values of these derivative contracts at 4.30 pm Singapore time for minimum 1,000 mt lots, in line with the industry standard. The assessments will roll on the first day of the month and will be based on reported trades, bids, offers, indicative values and other pricing information, collected throughout the day.

Platts will publish all relevant pricing information for these assessments in real time on the Platts petrochemical alert PCA0005.

Full details of the current Platts benzene derivatives methodology can be found here https://www.spglobal.com/platts/PlattsContent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/asia_pacific_petrochemicals.pdf.

The proposed assessments will be published on Platts Petrochemical Alert page PCA0766, PCA770 and the Petrochemicals Service on Platts Market Center, in the Asian Petrochemical Scan, or APS, in the Platts database and on the Platts Dimensions Pro platform.

Please send feedback and questions to petchems@spglobal.com with a copy to pricegroup@spglobal.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 to the public upon request.