Dear Subscribers,
Last year, 2017, marked Industrial Minerals’
50th anniversary. As you can imagine, Industrial Minerals has
seen many changes in the minerals we have covered since its
launch in 1967 - from market consolidation to new applications,
to the depletion of certain grades in some regions and the
emergence of new grades in others.
In addition, the industry, like many others, now faces more
regulation and compliance requirements than ever before. With
those factors in mind, here at Industrial Minerals we are
endeavoring to ensure that we offer the most relevant
information and pricing data to your business, using the most
robust and transparent of methodologies.
Over the course of 2017, we embarked on a process of
refining and improving the pricing data we publish on
Industrial Minerals. Indeed, you may have noticed the 'Pricing
Notices’ we have been publishing periodically
throughout the year.
In the knowledge that many of you rely on our pricing data,
and the responsibility that comes with that, as a Price
Reporting Agency (PRA), we continue to review our methodologies
and specifications for all our prices. As part of the process,
we intend to consult with the industry to ensure that we are
capturing the most relevant markets for your needs.
While in some cases this means we have delisted prices, in
others we have expanded our coverage, changed the publication
frequency and/or launched new grades.
In 2018, we will continue this process.
To that end, we intend to review many more minerals in the
immediate future and invite you to participate.
Over the course of the first quarter of this year, we will
be proposing further changes.
The first tranche of these will concern the proposal to
suspend coverage of prices for the following minerals from
February 28, 2018:
Celestite, kyanite, perlite, olivine, nitrates.
To provide feedback on these prices, or if you would like to
provide pricing information to Industrial Minerals by becoming
a data submitter, please contact us by email at:
pricing@indmin.com. Please add the subject heading 're:
February discontinuations’.
We will also shortly be initiating a consultation to review
the prices we offer on the following minerals: baddeleyite,
borates/boron minerals, caustic soda, diatomite, feldspar, iron
oxide, manganese, mica, silica sand, sulfur, talc, vermiculite
and wollastonite.
The aim of these consultations will be to introduce new
prices where required, to amend others and to discontinue
prices where there is limited market activity or interest.
As the only PRA to offer coverage of the full industrial
minerals suite, we know that you rely on the content we
provide. Given that context and our capacity as a responsible
PRA, we will continue to review our price offering at regular
intervals to ensure that you receive the most relevant
data.
Our goal is to be the world’s leading and most
trusted price reporting and intelligence service for the
markets that we serve. To that end, Industrial Minerals, as
part of the Metal Bulletin Group, is working toward adopting
IOSCO PRA Principles, a set of best-practice recommendations
for price reporting agencies to ensure robust and transparent
pricing processes.
The principal areas covered are governance and oversight;
quality and integrity of methodologies; and accountability and
auditing.
As we undertake the next phase of this journey, we invite
and encourage your participation.
Should you have any feedback or questions regarding any of
the points outlined in this letter, please do not hesitate to
get in touch.
Best regards,
Barbara O’Donovan
Managing Editor Industrial Minerals
pricing@indmin.com