Summary of responses
Following the recent announcement that ICIS would be launching a formal methodology consultation process, we have received one response from a key market player. To read the anonymised response, please click on the link below.
ICIS Decision
The sole response does not provide sufficient feedback for ICIS to change its current methodology for deals-based reporting of MEK markets in any of the geographical regions.
However, the comments made about writing in plain English, and about giving information on specific country prices and differentiating export prices, are valid points which will be taken into consideration in the future global coverage of this market.
ICIS has adopted the current deals-based methodology based on several decades of market observation and feedback. The suggestion to move to a weighted average is not considered appropriate. To quote the IOSCO-compliant methodology document: “Other measurement strategies, for example weighted averaging, are vulnerable to random variation in transaction levels and volume, which can give rise to distortions.”
To provide further comments or feedback on the ICIS phenol methodology, please contact:
Barbara Ortner: Barbara.Ortner@icis.com
