Australian iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group has applied for an injunction against Argus Media and its competitor S&P Global Platts in the UK High Court, seeking to prevent the two reporting organisations from publishing monthly details of some of its discount prices.
Asserting that the prices are "confidential," FMG is asking the court to ban Argus and Platts from reporting on and printing the discounts which the company circulates to customers and prospective customers alike for the contract sale of low-grade seaborne iron ore fines. FMG is the fourth largest mining company in the world, and the largest solo iron ore producer.
Argus has been reporting the company's discounts since 2013. They have also always been widely circulated on social media: the prices regularly appear on the Weibo platform, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, and on the WeChat app, a WhatsApp equivalent. The prices are discounts to a monthly average of a Platts spot market index.
"Argus is vigorously fighting this application," said Adrian Binks, CEO and Chairman of Argus Media. "As an independent publisher of news and information about commodities, Argus journalists shed light on opaque markets by speaking to a range of industry sources. Independent, objective market reporting which creates commodity price transparency is an essential service and very much in the public interest."
"We were extremely surprised that they brought this case after their prices had been in the public domain for so long," said Neil Fleming, global editorial head of Argus. "It is not clear to us why FMG is now trying to block publication."
"For us this is a straightforward case of defending press freedom," he said.
An interim hearing is set for 11 May.
Platts, which is part of S&P Global and headquartered in New York, is further disputing the legitimacy of bringing a case against it in London.
