LONDON and LAUSANNE, Switzerland, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingsman, a specialist provider of sugar and biofuels information and analytics and a unit of Platts, today announced the expansion of its suite of price references for the global sugar market to include nearly a dozen outright price assessments for raw and white sugar exported from Brazil, Thailand and the European Union.

The new outright price assessments supplement Kingsman's existing offering of raw and white sugar premiums, which reflect the price differential between the spot cash value and front-month futures contracts.

"By offering the sugar industry a choice of reference, we're making it easier for them to address various workflow needs with a single, independent source of both outright price assessments and futures differentials," said Jonathan Kingsman, founder of Kingsman and now Global Director for Agriculture at Platts.

Kingsman, a leading source of commodity price references for more than two decades, was acquired in 2012 by Platts, a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information.

The new offering includes four new outright price assessments for raw sugar and seven new outright price assessments for white sugar.

Raw Sugar
There are two new price assessments reflecting raw sugar loaded free on board (FOB) from Thailand ports, each valuing a different quality grade of sugar. There are also assessments for raw granulated sugar from Brazil, loaded FOB from both southern and northern ports. The assessments capture parcel sizes ranging from 12,000 to 50,000 metric tons and will be quoted in U.S. cents per pound.

White Sugar
The new outright assessments for white sugar include values for both breakbulk and containerized cargoes for two grades of Brazil white sugar and one grade of Thailand white sugar, and containerized cargoes for one grade of European Union white sugar.

The Brazil and Thailand assessments capture FOB breakbulk cargoes ranging from 12 to 14 metric tons, and as containerized cargoes, ranging from 10 to 50 containers. The EU assessment captures FOB ten-container loadings from Europe. The assessments are expressed as U.S. dollars per metric ton.

View the methodology document for information on sugar quality, specific loading location and more.

The new outright price assessments, as well as the pre-existing raw and white sugar price differentials to futures, are published daily in Kingsman's Daily Sugar Market Report.

Kingsman price assessments, like those of Platts, are underpinned by structured methodologies containing numerous quality requirements to maintain the integrity of the assessments.

Founded in 1990 and based in Lausanne, Kingsman employs analysts, researchers and report writers to serve the informational needs of the sugar, ethanol and biodiesel markets and the related global community of producers, traders, refiners, financial institutions and other interested parties. Platts and Kingsman provide complementary biofuels services spanning Asia, Europe and the Americas. For additional news and price information on sugar and biofuels, visit www.platts.com or www.kingsman.com.

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 approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), a financial intelligence and education company, signed an agreement to sell its McGraw-Hill Education business to investment funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC in November 2012. Following the sale closing, expected in early 2013, the Company will be renamed McGraw Hill Financial (subject to shareholder approval) and will be a powerhouse in benchmarks, content and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. The Company's leading brands will include: Standard & Poor's, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, Crisil, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Company will have approximately 17,000 employees in more than 30 countries. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts