PRICING NOTICE: Proposal to amend frequency of Italy zinc premiums assessments

Fastmarkets proposes to change the assessment schedule for Italian zinc premiums from weekly to fortnightly.

The Italian market is now largely supplied through long-term contracts, meaning that market participants access the spot market sparingly. Italy is a production center for special high-grade (SHG) zinc, which contributes to the prevalence of long-term contracts there.

Consequently, the zinc SHG, min 99.995%, ingot premium, fca dp Italy, has only changed twice since July 2019, while the zinc SHG, min 99.995%, ingot premium, ddp Italy, has been largely static around the $170-190 per tonne mark since December 2019.

The current specifications are as follows (proposed points for amendments in italics):

MB-ZN-0103 Zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, fca dp Italy, $ per tonne
Quality: Special High Grade zinc ingot of minimum 99.995% purity, conforming to LME specifications and relevant standards: BS EN 1179:2003, ISO 752:2004 – ZN-1 grade, ASTM B6-12 – LME grade or GB per tonne 470-2008
Quantity: Min 100 tonnes
Location: Free-carrier basis delivery in Italy, duty-paid premium on top of LME cash prices
Timing: Within 4 weeks
Unit: USD per tonne
Payment terms: Cash, other payment terms normalized
Publication: Weekly, Tuesday 3-4pm London time.

MB-ZN-0102 Zinc SHG min 99.995% ingot premium, ddp Italy, $ per per tonne
Quality: Special High Grade zinc ingot of minimum 99.995% purity, conforming to LME specifications and relevant standards: BS EN 1179:2003, ISO 752:2004 – ZN-1 grade, ASTM B6-12 – LME grade or GB per tonne 470- 2008.
Quantity: Min 100 tonnes
Location: Delivered duty paid consumer works in Italy, premium on top of LME cash prices
Timing: Within 4 weeks
Unit: USD per tonne
Payment terms: Cash, other terms normalized
Publication: Weekly, Tuesday 3-4pm London time.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts from May 7 and will end on June 9. The amendment will then take place, subject to market feedback, on June 14.

To provide feedback on this proposal, or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to these premiums, please contact Ana de Liz by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Ana de Liz, re: Zinc SHG Italy fca dp/ddp premiums.’

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents, go to: https://www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.