Background
ICIS is implementing a process of rolling consultation on all of its pricing methodologies. Consultation paper GMC02/16 is part of this formal process and covers all of the ICIS primary price points included in the propylene weekly publications.
The consultation asked general questions about the suitability of the ICIS pricing methodology.
ICIS received two responses, one confidential and one public. To read the anonymised public response please click on the link below.
This summary takes into account all responses, both confidential and anonymous.
Of the two respondents answering the question about the reliability of the current ICIS propylene methodology, one said that it provides a reliable measure of market value.
One respondent requested that in the Propylene Asia report, product of 99-99.4% purity as PGP, and lot size of 3,000-9,000 tonnes as standard cargo size, should be excluded or used on a normalised basis.
The other respondent requested the addition of contract prices for Asia-Pacific and China; more details about the market participants surveyed and the level of discretion used by reporters to evaluate the price levels in the cause of unconfirmed deals.
This respondent also requested that the Europe monthly contract reference assessment should be based on net transaction prices after the deduction of rebates and discounts.
ICIS Decision
There was no consensus about the necessity for changes to the current methodology.
Regarding the request to amend the purity of PGP and the cargo size, the ICIS Asia editor will survey the market to see whether there is support for this change to the methodology, and whether it would be considered to provide fair market value.
There are no plans to include a pan-Asian propylene contract price in the ICIS report, since this does not exist in the market.
ICIS does not disclose the identities of individual contract settlers in the Europe report. However, a list of the key contract settlers may be obtained on request from the editor.
ICIS does not report on rebates and discounts to the Europe monthly contract reference assessment, as this information is not available from the contract partners. However, general information on the range of discounts may be obtained on request from the editor.
To provide further comments or feedback please contact Barbara Ortner, Head of Market Reporting: Barbara.Ortner@icis.com
