Price reporting agencies (Platts, Argus, ICIS, Fastmarkets)
Independent organisations that collect deals, bids, offers and market talk for commodities not traded on exchanges – or whose physical markets differ from exchange prices – and publish daily or weekly assessed prices. S&P Global Platts and Argus are benchmarks for oil, LNG, fertilisers and coal; ICIS and ChemOrbis for petrochemicals and plastics; Fastmarkets (Metal Bulletin) for metals, ores and paper; CRU for steel and aluminium. Their prices serve as indices in formula-priced contracts and are audited against IOSCO principles.
Related terms
Formula pricing (index-linked pricing)
A method in which the price is tied to a market index instead of a fixed figure – for example “LME copper average of the shipment month + USD 85/t premium”, “Platts Dated Brent + USD 2.50/bbl” or “ICIS PP homopolymer CFR Türkiye monthly average minus 1 %”. The pricing period (B/L month, arrival month or quotational period, QP), the index source and the exchange rate used for payment must be stated clearly in the contract. In term contracts it protects both parties fairly against price swings.
London Metal Exchange (LME) and commodity exchanges
The exchange that sets global reference prices for non-ferrous metals such as copper, aluminium, zinc, nickel, lead, tin and cobalt; its official prices and monthly averages are used as indices in physical contracts. A physical buyer pays the LME price plus a premium that depends on origin, brand and delivery location (e.g. the Rotterdam aluminium premium). Other key exchanges: CME/COMEX (copper, gold), ICE (Brent, cocoa, coffee, sugar, cotton), CBOT (soybeans, corn, wheat), SHFE (Shanghai metals), DCE and ZCE (Chinese plastics, iron ore and agricultural futures) and Bursa Malaysia (palm oil).