LONDON, April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts, with its commercial partner Minerals Value Service GmbH, today announced several enhancements to the Minerals Value Service (MVS) online analytics platform, which allows traders and miners of iron ore to calculate and compare grade-specific values of the commodity under varying buying and selling scenarios.

New MVS features allow users to:

    --  Access current and historical databases of spot market trades and market
        intelligence as assessed and reported by Platts since 2012;
    --  Benchmark competing grades, products and industry indexes against a base
        reference, including Platts IODEX, The Steel Index TSI 62% Fe index, MVS
        Value-in-Use;
    --  Share data, documents and other information in real time without leaving
        the platform.

These features complement the platform's existing capabilities which enable users to calculate values for any grade of iron ore and product under customizable pricing scenarios; view at-a-glance values of iron ore plus freight, tax and other logistic-specific costs; and conduct map-based searches on production and other useful information on 400 steel plants and furnaces, as well as ports and terminals.

"Pricing of iron ore continues on a path of rapid evolution and Platts is pleased to be a part of the continued growth in this first-of-kind analytics tool for the iron ore industry," said Andrew Goodwin, Platts general manager of agriculture, metals and petrochemicals. "Having a customizable analytics tool with instant access to full historical data and cross-referencing capabilities will not only help industry participants optimize their product portfolios, it will bring even greater clarity to pricing at large."

The Platts-MVS cooperation on the iron ore analytics platform is the result of the October 2013 commercial partnering between Platts and privately-held Minerals Value Service GmbH, a specialist in value-in-use solutions for miners and traders in the steelmaking industry.

"Platts, with its long experience in price discovery and unparalleled dual benchmarks - the well-respected IODEX iron ore physical benchmark and the derivatives benchmark TSI 62% Fe iron ore index - is a natural choice of partner for this iron ore analytics platform and its growth," said James Rilett, MVS managing director.

To access a demonstration video of the MVS iron ore platform click here.

Founded in 2011 by mining and steel industry professionals Benedikt Sobotka and Fabian Kroher, MVS employs a team of engineers, metallurgists and commercial experts in Germany and maintains a network of researchers in China, India, South Africa and Australia. For more information on MVS, visit its website https://www.mvs-corp.com/en/.

Platts, which has covered the metals markets for more than 40 years, became a leading global provider of metals information with its July 2011 acquisition of The Steel Business Briefing Group and its specialist pricing unit The Steel Index (TSI).

For more information on Platts, visit the www.platts.com. For more information on TSI, visit www.thesteelindex.com.

*Platts is the exclusive distributor of the MVS platform and its tools.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture 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 biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), 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 McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power and McGraw Hill Construction. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 29 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts