PIX Methodologies & Policies

COVERAGE NOTE: Changes to PIX Forest Biomass Finland – Final Decision

HELSINKI, June 17, 2020 (PIX Bioenergy and Wood Indices) – Fastmarkets FOEX invited feedback from the industry on the pricing methodologies for its PIX Forest Biomass Finland price indices, as part of its newly announced annual methodology review process.

As part of this open consultation, to expand the coverage on the Finnish bioenergy sector, Fastmarkets FOEX proposed additions to its PIX Forest Biomass Finland index and its sub-indices. Most of the comments agreed on the suggested regions and the new sub-index for logging residues. There were some comments about small adjustments on the region division as well as generally regarding the indices.

As the feedback was generally positive, Fastmarkets FOEX will go forward with the plan and the following additions will be made for PIX Bioenergy and Wood Indices:

• Regional indices to PIX Forest Biomass Finland Index and selected ones of its sub-indices (forest chips, sawdust, bark) will be added. The final selection of the sub-indices will be based on test data collected during the coming months.
• A separate official sub-index for logging residues will be published, and possibly, based on the test data, also regional indices for this sub-index
• Based on the feedback during the consultation and comments from the price data contributors, Fastmarkets FOEX decides the regional division to go along the line from Vaasa to Imatra dividing Finland in two (west/south and east/north)

The changes are planned to take effect starting in October 2020 (based on August data).

For comments and queries, please email hello.foex@fastmarkets.com, indicating “PIX Forest Biomass Finland” in the subject line of the email in English, Finnish or Swedish.

COVERAGE NOTE: PIX China - proposed schedule change and open consultation

HELSINKI, June 5, 2020 (PIX Pulp & Paper Indices) - Fastmarkets FOEX is inviting feedback from the industry on the pricing methodologies for its PIX China Pulp price indices, as part of its announced annual methodology review process. At the same time, Fastmarkets FOEX is proposing a change in schedule to publish the indices on Fridays rather than Tuesdays from September.

The open consultation, which is open until July 3rd, 2020, seeks to ensure that our methodologies continue to reflect the physical market under indexation, in compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles for Price Reporting Agencies (PRAs). This includes all elements of our pricing process, our price specifications and publication frequency.

FOEX also proposes to change the weekly publishing day for the PIX China Pulp indices from Tuesday to Friday as of September, 2020. This would enable us to capture price data for the current week and therefore produce a timelier index. The first PIX China Pulp indices published under the new schedule would be on September 4^th. No change in schedule is planned for other PIX indices at this time.

You can find the current methodologies of FOEX PIX China Pulp price indices (PIX NBSK and PIX BHKP) here.

Please send responses in writing, preferably in electronic format, to the following address: hello.foex@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading "PIX China Pulp annual methodology review”.

Please specify whether your response is confidential. Opinions offered in confidential responses may be referenced but will not be attributed in any way.

Fastmarkets will publish the outcome of this methodology review by, July 17, 2020, including a summary of the feedback with the exception of those marked as confidential. Any proposals to make material changes, discontinue or launch prices will involve a separate market consultation, the length of which will depend on how substantial the change is.

COVERAGE NOTE: Open consultation on FOEX methodology for PIX Packaging Europe Indices – Final Decision

HELSINKI, May 28, 2020 (PIX Pulp & Paper Indices) - Fastmarkets FOEX invited feedback from the industry in an open consultation process between April 24^th and May 22^nd, 2020 on the pricing methodology for its PIX Packaging Europe price indices. The consultation was done as part of our previously announced annual methodology review process.

During the consultation, Fastmarkets FOEX did not receive any suggestions for changes to the PIX Packaging Europe Indices methodology. As a result, no material changes were made to the current methodology. An updated methodology document has been posted on foex.fi.