Platts, a leading energy, petrochemical and metals information provider and top source of benchmark prices, has introduced an innovative, global suite of price spreads, known as Platts Steel Mill Economics, aimed at assisting margin modeling and steel industry analysis. The new suite of spreads, which debuted yesterday, captures the costs of raw material inputs and the price of finished products in blast-furnace and electric-furnace (scrap-based) steelmaking operations in Asia, Europe and the United States.
“Platts Steel Mill Economics is a set of independent, cost-price analytical tools,” said Joe Innace, Platts editorial director of metals. “By providing price valuation points throughout the steel-making process from raw inputs through blast furnace processes, these tools are designed to help our customers better understand, manage and hedge highly unpredictable iron- and steel-making margins.” The price spreads support every-day and long-range decision-making by diverse industry and market players such as mill owners, risk managers, analysts, traders, brokers, financiers, purchasing managers, strategic planners and investors.
The suite includes more than a dozen spreads reflecting the difference between raw material commodities such as iron ore, coal or scrap and finished or semi-finished steel products. The suite of Platts Steel Mill Economics price spreads will be reported daily and monthly. As reported by Platts on January 14, the Steel Mill Economics price spreads were as follows:
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“The suite of price spreads focus on China as the key consumer of commodities like iron ore and coking coal needed to make steel,” said Sebastian Lewis, Platts editorial director, China. “Other price spreads reflect steel-making economics in the U.S. and Turkey, which are more scrap-based.”
The suite of price spreads are developed from pre-existing benchmark spot price assessments from Platts and The Steel Index (TSI) and will be published on an end-of-U.S. trading-day basis in SBB Steel Markets Daily, on Platts Metals Alert, via Platts Market Data-Metals and in other publications. Details of the methodology used to produce the spreads may be found at this link.
Platts’ metals markets coverage spans more than 40 years, following the tradition of its parent, The McGraw-Hill Companies, which has reported on metals for some 80 years. Platts expanded its offering of metals products and services in July 2011 with the acquisition of The Steel Business Briefing Group and its specialist pricing unit The Steel Index.
