Quotation Period (QP) Profile Reports

Context

One important indicator for companies that trade bulk materials and base metals through contracts based on quotation periods (QPs) is how the quantity of sold material is priced in time. Companies might have specific strategic targets, for example, the quantity of a given element priced each month remaining as constant as possible (flat QP curve).

The Quotation Period Profile (QP Profile or QPP) has an impact on the strategic performance of the company, as the expected profile is a company-level decision that impacts its financial behaviour. The following types of decisions are tied to the QP profile:

  • Negotiation of contract QPs for subsequent periods
  • Hedging policies

Purpose and Scope

The main purpose of the QP Profile report is to group all the commitments in terms of mass or tonnage per analyte by period (for example, monthly).

For contracts with product pricing, despatch orders (DOs) and quotas are considered if the analyte is the main analyte of the contract product.

For contracts with analyte pricing, DOs and quotas are considered if the analyte is a payable analyte in the applicable set of contract terms.

The QP Profile report can be for sales contracts, purchase contracts, or for both. If both contract types are selected, the QP Profile report displays the net quantity; that is, sales minus purchase.

The date range of a QP Profile report filters DOs and quotas by quotation period (QP) dates; not by planned despatch or bill of lading dates.

The DO's or quota's QP does not need to fall entirely within the report date range to be included (that is, the QP can start before the report From Date, or finish after the report End Date). If there is an overlap, only the proportional quantity within the report date range is included in the report. The proportional quantity is based on the number of business days as defined in the calendar associated with the analyte's price series.

QP Profile reports can display hedged quantities; that is, the quantities of any hedge actions recorded for the despatch orders and quotas in the QP Profile report.

QP Profile reports do not include tolled quantities.

Despatch Order and Quota Exclusions

A DO or quota is excluded from the QP Profile report if:

  • The DO or quota is not visible for the domain assigned to the user group of the user creating or viewing the report. (Example 1: Even if the report is created by a user who can access objects in Domains A and B, when a user who can only access objects in Domain A views the report, they will only see DOs and quotas from Domain A in the report. Example 2: If a user who can only access objects in Domain A creates the report, the report is limited to objects in Domain A, even for users who can access objects in Domains A and B.)
  • The DO or quota does not match the parameters of the report.
  • The DO has no associated contract term.
  • The DO is cancelled.
  • The DO is an aggregated parent despatch order (APDO) or consignment parent despatch order (CPDO) or split parent despatch order (SPDO) of child despatch orders (CDOs). (The CDOs are included.)
  • The DO or quota is for a contract with product pricing, but there is no main analyte specified for the contract product.
  • There is no QP information available to the MineMarket Marketing Service for the analyte.
  • The QP information available to the MineMarket Marketing Service is not for a final quotation pricing header, or if the final quotation pricing has not been approved.
  • The default DO or quota snapshot has not been processed by the MineMarket Marketing Service. Information from invoice-specific DO snapshots is not used by QP Profile reports.

Processing

QP Profile reports use data from DO and quota snapshots, which are calculated by the MineMarket Marketing Service. Snapshots must be reprocessed by the MineMarket Marketing Service to have the required data for inclusion in QP Profile reports.

Results

The results of a QP Profile report are generated when the report is executed. Results may be viewed in detail, as a summary, or as a summary chart.

Details View

In the detailed report, for every despatch or quota balance with a QP within with the reporting period, the system reports the detailed despatch information (customer, contract, transport, despatch order), as well as a breakdown of the quantity of each relevant main analyte or payable analyte, priced on every valid date in the quotation period.

Each despatch order or quota may have multiple lines, depending on the analytes selected in the QP Profile report parameters.

If hedged quantities are included in the report, these quantities display as separate lines. For hedged quantities, the QP is identified as "Hedged" and the dates are the maturity month of the hedge position. Hedged quantities display with the opposite sign (positive/negative) compared to the related despatch order or quota.

Summary View

In the summarised report, the quantities are aggregated by time period and analyte.

If viewing the summary by day, the QP period and its mass are split by day, including only business day as defined for the calendar of the associated price series.

If hedged quantities are included in the report, the summary total for each period displays the amount of the exposure:

Exposure = Despatch Orders and Quotas – Hedged Quantities

Summary Chart View

The summary chart is a graphical representation of the summary view coloured by line status. Estimated quantities are red, probable quantities are yellow, final quantities are green and hedged quantities are blue.

If viewing the summary chart by day, the QP period and its mass are split by day, including only business day as defined for the calendar of the associated price series.

QP Profile Report Line Status

Hedged quantities have a status of Hedged.

Otherwise, the status of each line in the detailed report is determined as the lowest status out of the Weight Status, Analyte Status, and Quotation Period (QP) Status:

Weight Status:
  • Estimated if the mass comes from the despatch order's or quota's required quantity.
  • Final if the mass comes from a despatch at the expected final location.

    This is the same logic as is used in batch invoicing to determine whether Final Weight is true for each despatch order.

  • Probable if the mass is not final but also not estimated.
Assay Status:
  • Estimated if the assay values come from the despatch order or quota specifications.
  • Final if the assay values meet the condition of final as per assay rules (for example, value comes from assay exchange final).

    This is the same logic as is used in batch invoicing to determine whether Final Assay is true for each despatch order.

  • Probable if the assay values are not final but also not estimated.
QP Status:
  • Estimated if the QP dates are estimated by the MineMarket Marketing Service.
  • Final if the QP dates are fixed or come from actual logistical values (for example, from actual time of arrival in the shipment itinerary), such that the MineMarket Marketing Service does not need to estimate the dates.
  • Probable if the QP dates are known but they come from planned values (for example, from estimated time of arrival in the shipment itinerary), such that the MineMarket Marketing Service does not need to estimate the dates.