PRICING NOTICE: Fastmarkets MB raises frequency of iron ore VIU indices

From Monday March 4, Fastmarkets MB will publish on a weekly basis the value-in-use (VIU) indices for the implied impact of 1% of iron, silica and alumina, and 0.01% of phosphorus on the price of iron ore.

March 4, 2019

By Deepali Sharma

The decision follows positive feedback from the market during a month-long consultation regarding increasing the frequency of publication for the VIU indices, which, until now, had been calculated on a monthly basis and published on the first working day of each month.

The proposed new schedule will see them calculated weekly, and published on the Monday of the following week. The final monthly VIU indices were published on Friday March 1.

The proposed transition from monthly to weekly frequency is intended to increase the degree to which the VIU indices reflect current market trends.

These VIU indices had been derived from a regression-based calculation of transactions in the month prior to publication.

Under the new schedule, the indices will be calculated from data observed during the week prior to publication, and will incorporate market participants’ estimates in addition to transaction data in the regression-based calculation.

The Fastmarkets MB iron ore VIU indices comprise the following:

MBIOI-Fe-VIU
Impact of 1% iron difference to the base specification of the MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index, calculated from data in the 60-63.5% Fe range.

MBIOI-Fe65-VIU
Impact of 1% iron difference to the base specification of the MB 65% Fe iron Ore Index, calculated from data in the 63.5-66% Fe range.

MBIOI-Si-VIU
Impact of 1% silica difference to the base specification of the MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index, calculated from data in the 60-63.5% Fe range.

MBIOI-Al-VIU
Impact of 1% alumina difference to the base specification of the MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index, calculated from data in the 60-63.5% Fe range.

MBIOI-P-VIU
Impact of 0.01% phosphorus difference to the base specification of the MB 62% Fe Iron Ore Index, calculated from data in the 60-63.5% Fe range.

To provide feedback on these prices or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter, please contact Peter Hannah by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading “FAO: Peter Hannah, re: MBIOI VIU.”

All of Fastmarkets MB’s pricing methodology and specification documents can be found here.