Fastmarkets Launches Daily Hot-Rolled Coil Index

NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastmarkets AMM has increased the frequency of its hot-rolled coil index to daily in response to unprecedented steel market volatility.

"The Section 232 tariffs on steel, the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement and a potential trade war with China are just a few examples of significant and unpredictable factors for the steel market this year," North American Steel Editor Thorsten Schier said. "As information moves faster than ever, it's essential to provide the entire ferrous supply chain with a nimble and well-constructed indicator to guide key business decisions."

Fastmarkets is one the world's leading and most trusted price reporting businesses and has been benchmarking commodities since 1882. It has assessed the price of hot-rolled coil since 1960, and increased the frequency of its index from weekly to daily on November 12.

"A daily hot-rolled coil index is necessary because existing indices are not reactive enough to today's dynamic steel environment," Price Development Manager Grace Lavigne said. "Our index methodology is a mathematical process specifically tailored for the hot-rolled coil market. The index is based on numerous real transactions in the market, ensuring impartial and representative market evaluations."

Fastmarkets has invested significantly to ensure the accountability and auditability of its price evaluations, including a technology-based state-of-the-art pricing collection, assessment and distribution system and database, that aligns with principles published by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The company's global team of more than 160 price reporters provide assessments of more than 5,000 proprietary prices, which are used regularly for benchmarking both physical and financial contracts. Fastmarkets' price indices serve as the basis of multiple futures contracts, including the CME's US Midwest busheling ferrous scrap contract and NASDAQ's US Midwest shredded steel scrap contract.

About Fastmarkets 
Fastmarkets is the leading price reporting, analytics and events organization for the global metals, mining and forest products markets. Fastmarkets' core activity in pricing drives transactions in commodities markets around the world and is complemented by news, industry data, analysis, conferences and insight services. Fastmarkets includes brands such as Fastmarkets MB and Fastmarkets AMM (previously known as Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market, respectively), RISI and FOEX. Its main offices are in New York, Boston, London, Brussels, Helsinki, São Paulo, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore. Fastmarkets is a part of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, a listed company on the London Stock Exchange. Euromoney is a leading international business-to-business information group focused primarily on the global commodities, banking, and asset management markets.

SOURCE Fastmarkets