ICIS continuously develops, reviews and revises its methodologies in consultation with industry participants. Product specifications and trading terms and conditions used are intended to reflect typical working practices prevalent in the industry.
ICIS publishes market assessments based on information continuously gathered from market participants about: spot transactions, spot bid and offer levels, contract price negotiations, prices of related commodities, and relevant freight costs.
ICIS does not make retrospective adjustments or changes to price assessments based on information received after publication time in all cases or after any cut-off point specified in individual methodology documents.
ICIS regards all arm’s-length transactions which meet its specification criteria as carrying equal weight. ICIS uses proprietary models where necessary to normalise data to the typical specifications for cargo size and date ranges given for each commodity.
Some ICIS assessments are the product of calculation alone, for example in markets where insufficient market activity takes place to permit price assessment, or where a market habitually itself sets prices according to a formula. Those calculated assessments are noted as such in their detailed methodology specifications.
ICIS endeavours to cross-check all the transaction information it gathers. ICIS will not use information for assessment purposes where such checks call into doubt the accuracy of the original information, or where a transaction appears to have occurred under circumstances that render it non-repeatable or otherwise markedly unusual.
