International Raw Material Supply Chain Development Strategy Summit II was co-hosted by SteelHome and China Railway Material Group in Shanghai International Convention Center in April 19-21, 2013. Circa 200 delegates from China Iron and Steel Association (CISA), China Association of Metal Scrap Utilization (CAMU), Metallurgical Mines Association of China (MMAC), steel mills, raw material enterprises, distributing enterprises, security companies, research institutions and media were participated in the conference. Christopher Ellis, Analyst of Metal Bulletin, delivered a speech titled Metal Bulletin Iron ore Index Methodology& Usage to introduce iron ore index.

First, Mr. Christopher Ellis introduced Metal Bulletin, a global multi-media publisher, carrying over 700 prices on products in the steel, base metals and raw materials markets. Metal Bulletin is part of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC, which is a group worth a market cap of circa £1.2 billion and a component of the FTSE 250 Index with more than 2,000 employees. Metal Bulletin has been reporting on the iron ore market since the first magazine was published in 1913 and was instrumental in the development of the benchmark system in the 1970s. MB has been tracking the Chinese iron ore spot market since its creation in 2004.

Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index aims to provide a robust settlement price for OTC swaps, futures contracts, and physical transactions. It is a tonnage weighted calculation of actual transactions that have been normalised to a base specification and delivery point, using the value-in-use for different materials applied by the market.

The Index is structurally designed to balance the influence of all sides of the market, preventing market distortions, and to remove incorrect or misreported data. All market data is combined into a single reference price, allowing maximum liquidity, and hence accuracy, in the model.

The only Index which is structurally designed to balance the different market participants

•This prevents manipulation and bias

•Steel Mills and Miners have an equal effect on the final price

•The only Index to have a credible and independent Chinese partner ¨C Steelhome

•The Index is based on actual transactions

•In built mechanism to exclude outliers

•Anything + or ¨C 4% from initial calculation is excluded from the index

•The Index is a mathematical calculation not an assessment of the market to the nearest $0.01/tonne.