Platts starts publishing new monthly net contract price assessment for European methanol

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has started publishing a new monthly net contract price (CP) assessment for the European methanol market, effective Nov. 3, 2025.

The new assessment complements Platts' existing coverage of methanol spot markets and is in addition to the European industry-settled quarterly gross contract price (ECP, HPACO00). It meets growing demand from buyers and sellers for a more frequently updated contract price amid concerns in the market about divergence between contract and spot prices for quarterly settlements, while also providing greater transparency over the net invoice prices.

The assessment is calculated as an average of Platts' daily month-ahead FOB Rotterdam spot assessments, published during the preceding month (MEFRA01, MEFRA02), and is databased to the first day of the month. For example, on Nov. 3, Platts will publish the November contract price, databased to Nov. 1, averaging Platts FOB Rotterdam assessments for November loading, as published throughout October.

Details of the new assessment:

The assessment is published in Eur/mt, along with a $/mt conversion ( MTFRU03), and reflects T2 product conforming to the International Methanol Producers and Consumers Association (IMPCA) reference specification with a minimum purity of 99.85%, a maximum water content of 0.1% by weight, and a maximum ethanol content of 50 mg/kg.

The assessments are available in Europe and Americas Petrochemicalscan, Solventswire and on Platts Connect.

The new assessment was first proposed in a subscriber note published Sept. 23, available here, and the subsequent communication to publish the assessment was published in a subscriber note Oct. 9, available here.

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