LONDON, April 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Borsa Istanbul Derivatives Market (VIOP), the Turkish derivatives trading exchange, is utilizing The Steel Index (TSI)'s daily scrap price index published by Platts, a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information, as the settlement basis for its steel scrap futures contract launching April 2.

"We are delighted that Borsa Istanbul has selected TSI's benchmark scrap price to provide the settlement basis for its new futures contract, and we share its excitement about the potential it offers," said Steven Randall, TSI managing director. "The Turkish scrap import price is a leading global indicator for the steel industry. Scrap is a key steelmaking raw material and prices are notoriously volatile. This contract will be extremely useful to companies grappling with the challenge of managing price uncertainty throughout the steel supply chain."

As stated in its March 16, 2015 announcement, Borsa Istanbul's (BIST's) steel scrap futures contract will be cash-settled using the average in the expiring month of TSI's daily benchmark price for deep-sea imports of scrap grade HMS #1&2 in an 80:20 mix into Turkey's Iskenderun port on a cost and freight (CFR) basis.

"Turkey is one of the biggest importers of this important raw material," added Cetin Ali Donmez, Borsa Istanbul executive vice president of derivatives & bullion markets. "We believe that the growing Turkish economy will benefit from the launch of Turkish scrap steel futures. This contract will help Turkish steel industry participants to hedge their exposure and thus increase their competitiveness on a global scale. We are open to accepting market makers from local and foreign firms."

This is the first BIST futures contract based on a TSI index published by Platts.

TSI, a unit of Platts since 2011, is a leading source of impartial steel, scrap, iron ore and coking coal price information based on spot prices determined between buyers and sellers in the open markets. Find details of the methodology underpinning TSI's scrap price indices at this link: https://www.thesteelindex.com/en/procedures-methodology/.

In addition to BIST, other exchanges and clearing houses listing Platts and TSI-based iron ore, coking coal, steel and scrap derivatives contracts include: CME Group, Singapore Exchange (SGX), LCH.Clearnet, NASDAQ OMX and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Published on a daily basis, TSI's scrap index for Turkish imports of HMS #1&2 80:20 appears in email price reports and online within the TSI Price Analyzer via subscription to TSI's Global and Scrap Services.

For more information on TSI, visit https://www.thesteelindex.com. For more information on BIST, visit http://borsaistanbul.com/en/home-page.

*Platts and its TSI unit do not sponsor, endorse, promote or sell Borsa Istanbul contracts.

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 based in London with more than 1000 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at www.platts.com.

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial, 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 18,000 employees in 30 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts