Fortescue fights to block publication of pricing data
S&P is arguing that its price reporting is ‘vital and universally accepted’ in providing market transparency.
Fortescue Metals is embroiled in a legal dispute with two companies running benchmark iron ore indexes over publication of its price data, according to US legal filings.
According to legal documents filed in New York by S&P Global, publisher of the long-running Platts iron ore price — the benchmark index for iron ore sellers and buyers — Fortescue has taken the unusual step of seeking to prevent the publication of pricing of its Pilbara iron ore.
The documents show Fortescue won orders from the UK courts on April 24 preventing it from publishing “confidential” information about the discount from the benchmark received by Chinese customers for its ore — which, according to the publisher’s filings, show Fortescue’s discounts were narrowing when the legal action was launched.
The documents show Fortescue also won orders against Argus Media, also the publisher of commodity price information. Platts and Argus get their pricing information from traders and buyers, and compile the data to produce summary daily prices of key commodities, including iron ore and metallurgical coal, that serves as an industry pricing guide. S&P Global launched the legal action to strike out court orders won in the UK, arguing Fortescue’s subscription to its services included a contractual agreement to only take legal action in the New York courts, and that the orders were a clear breach of the US first amendment right to free speech.
“If companies were allowed to prohibit the solicitation and publication of factual information about their businesses based on asserted violation of confidentiality obligations placed on employers and customers, it would severely disrupt time-honoured journalistic practices and impede the flow of information that is vital to the public and to the capital markets,” S&P said.
It is understood Fortescue’s legal action is aimed at preventing publication of discounts paid against long-term contracts with customers.
Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines told The Australian on Thursday she was not able to comment outside of the court filings, but the matter was about the confidentiality of Fortescue’s information.
“There’s public information that can be published, which is fine. But there’s other information that is confidential between parties that shouldn’t be published,” she said.
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