Platts Expands Ethanol Price Data to Address German Market Requirements

LONDON, July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information, today expanded its suite of ethanol price assessments to include a new first-ever daily fuel ethanol price reference that reflects unique specification changes in Germany, one of the leading ethanol markets in Europe.

"We believe the new assessment will provide a robust and transparent benchmark to market participants not only in Germany, but the Americas and Europe at large, thereby meeting the industry's need for a global ethanol floating-price reference," said Ilana Djelal, managing editor of European petrochemicals at Platts.

The ethanols reflected in the new assessment are European fuel-grade, anhydrous, undenatured ethanols that meet the sustainability criteria put in place earlier this year by the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt fuer Landwirtschaft und Ernaehrung, or BLE). The BLE criteria govern such factors as sustainable agricultural management, protection of land with high biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and more.

The new daily assessment, known as Platts German Fuel-Grade Ethanol T2 FOB Rotterdam, reflects products quoted in Euros per cubic meter and delivered free on board (FOB) to Rotterdam and holding appropriate sustainability certificates meeting Germany's standard.

Fuel-grade ethanol that are not restricted by the country-of-origin and feedstock such as corn, wheat, cereal grains and other ethanol-producing crops, are accepted in Platts' assessment processes. The price assessments reflect market value of physical ethanol at the close of the Platts assessment process at 4:30 p.m. London, U.K., time and are based on all-day market monitoring and data collection of transactions, bids, offers and other information from market participants in the spot physical markets.

With this launch, Platts now provides nearly a half dozen ethanol assessments, aimed at offering a more transparent view of price discovery in the physical markets for participants in agricultural companies, oil majors, trading companies, blenders, brokers and the investment community.

Platts ethanol assessments are published in real-time services Platts Petrochemical Alert  and Platts Global Alert and the end-of-day data feed Platts Market Data, as well as other online and print publications containing news market commentary and price information.  

The price assessment methodology used by Platts in ethanol has been developed in consultation with a cross section of key industry players and policymakers, draws upon Platts' century of experience in benchmark price reporting in the energy markets and is underpinned by robust quality guidelines. For information on Platts' price assessment methodology, click here.

Visit the Platts website, www.platts.com, for more information on oil, petrochemicals, and energy and metals.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, and shipping markets.  A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), Platts is headquartered in New York with more than 700 employees in more than a dozen offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

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SOURCE Platts