Butanediol Methodology Consultation – Summary of responses
Following the recent announcement that ICIS would be launching a formal butanediol methodology consultation process, we have received three responses from key market players, one of which can be published anonymously, and two of which were confidential.
To read the anonymised public response, please click on the link below:
The main points raised in the three responses were:
- Spot volumes from Asia to Europe should be covered in the Europe report.
- The Europe report should have more coverage of operating rates.
- The Korea assessment in the Asia report should be for bulk deals, not drums.
- The product specification of 99.0% is too low.
- The Asia standard cargo size of 20 tonnes is too small.
- Speculating on future price developments should be avoided.
ICIS Initial Decision
The responses do not provide sufficient feedback for ICIS to change its current methodology for deals-based reporting of BDO contract or spot markets in any of the geographical regions.
In response to the specific points raised, ICIS intends to provide more coverage in the commentary of the Europe report about Asian spot imports and European plant operating rates.
The Korea assessment in the Asia report is for bulk deals, and this has been clarified on the report and in the BDO methodology document.
In response to the statement about product purity, ICIS will survey its market sources to see whether there is support for raising the purity level in the specification.
The Asia standard cargo size has been clarified in the methodology document as 20-1,000 tonnes.
In line with the ICIS policy on Conflicts of Interest, editors do not forecast prices, but the reporting of seller and buyer views is legitimate material for coverage in the pricing reports.
ICIS continues to welcome any feedback on its BDO methodology outside of the formal consultation process.
To provide further comments or feedback please contact Barbara Ortner, Head of Market Reporting: Barbara.Ortner@icis.com
