Platts, the global energy, metals, petrochemicals and agriculture information provider, has acquired Munich-based Minerals Value Service GmbH (MVS), a privately held company specialising in determining value-in-use for miners, mills and traders in the iron ore and steelmaking industries. The purchase extends a partnership launched in October 2013 under which Platts took an equity stake in MVS and became the exclusive distributor of MVS’ web-based value-in-use tool, which enables users to calculate a value of iron ore for specific buying and selling scenarios.
“Over the course of our partnership with MVS, the value of this unique analytical tool has become increasingly apparent,” said Andrew Goodwin, Platts General Manager, Metals. “Acquiring MVS will allow us to put the full weight of Platts’ marketing, sales and product development teams behind MVS to help accelerate its growth, bringing value to new and existing customers.”
“We are excited to join the Platts team,” said James Rilett, London-based Managing Director of MVS. “A full acquisition by Platts will provide the expertise and scale to help MVS accelerate and broaden its product development, both in iron and steel and across other commodity classes. These markets are evolving fast and increasing in complexity all the time. This deal allows us to continue to develop our data, research and product offerings to help our customers meet these challenges.”
“Platts was the natural fit for MVS given its leading position in iron ore pricing, which is the essential starting point for all of our analytical work,” said Oliver Gausmann, a founding shareholder and Managing Director of the development arm of MVS based in Munich. Since October 2013, Platts and its specialist pricing unit, The Steel Index (TSI), have provided a comprehensive set of steel-related price assessments – including the Platts IODEX and TSI 62% Fe iron ore prices, which form an integral part of the custom calculations performed by the MVS tool. The tool allows a subscriber to tap into multiple databases containing detailed information on local and international steelmaking input calculations, as well as freight, taxes, duties and other logistics costs that are updated daily. The end result is a value-in-use adjustment for a given iron ore, calculated on an individual steelmaker’s precise technical and commercial parameters.
The tool also offers customisable, downloadable reports and presentations to increase the analytical capacity and reach of users involved in financing, marketing and sourcing iron ore. MVS employs a team of experienced engineers, metallurgists and commercial experts in Munich and maintains a network of researchers in China, India, South Africa and Australia who provide the transactional, logistical and fundamental data underpinning the MVS application. Customers include trading firms, miners, steel producers, financial institutions and logistics companies.
