Fastmarkets Knowledge Base

Create custom alerts

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Alerts Learn how to set up price alerts in the Dashboard. Introduction To stay abreast of changes in prices and news, you can create alerts for a single price, multiple prices or news within the Fastmarkets Dashboard. Notifications can be delivered via email or in the Dashboard when the application is open and running. A batched alert can be s

MyDesk - view Time Series

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

View a chart Use the 5* Chart widget to view a chart. Access this tool through the Content Finder, in the Charting tools and add a 5* Charts to your existing screen. Search for the prices you want to view in the chart, for example LME Copper Officials, or CME Aluminium M1 bid history etc. Depending on the instrument, Fastmarkets carries far dated hi

Does Fastmarkets have more details on the consumption of chemicals?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Does Fastmarkets have more details on the consumption of chemicals? We do not show detailed chemical consumption in the Asset Database, only estimates of use of additives like coating, filler, and starch. In the Analytical Cornerstone cost benchmarking database, we show certain pulping and bleaching chemical consumption estimates in greater detail -

Dashboard installation

Published June 5th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Dashboard installation Prerequisites: desktop and web versions The Fastmarkets Dashboard is available via desktop application and the web. If you are using Windows 10, we recommend you use the installed desktop application. If your operating system precedes Windows 10 or you would prefer to use the Dashboard web version, we recommend you use the lat

Manage my account

Published July 10th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

If you need to check on your order status, Let’s get you some help from our Client Services team. If you want to upgrade your contract, renew or discuss renewal options, you will need to reach out to your Account Manager. If you don’t know who is managing your account, Let’s get you some help

I am unable to login to the Dashboard due to an error about the past or future followed by a series of numbers

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

You may experience the following error when trying to access the Dashboard: Or the error may state: “iat is in the future: 1638464093” This error occurs when the data and time is out of synch with your pc or laptop, commonly seen following daylight savings changes. Please update the time on device to the real time for their time zone (so that the mi

Learn about our methodology

Published May 19th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Learn more about our methodology Verified: Our price reporters are required to follow robust pricing procedures, clearly defined methodologies and price specifications during their market reporting and pricing sessions. All calculations or assessments are verified through our integrated peer review system, to guarantee unrivaled quality control and

What are the mill/machine/grade/product capacities based on?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What are the mill/machine/grade/product capacities based on? Fastmarkets uses nominal capacity* or "design" capacity per machine (paper machine, pulp line, etc). In most cases, annual capacity is the typical way of company and/or supplier reporting. These annual values are divided by 357 days to obtain a daily capacity for the purpose of Fastmarkets

Where can I find LME Official Monthly Averages?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Where can I find LME Official Monthly Averages? Access the Exchange Data Report widget by going to Add Widget > Exchange Data Reports > select LME Averages. The current month average is shown by default. To view historical averages, click on the purple date drop down to view previous months. To download to Excel, click on the Export Options b

What does Direct Cost contain?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does Direct Cost contain? The Direct Cost (curve) shows the Cash Cost and the Capital Cost. Capital cost = capital charge + depreciation. Capital Cost is calculated based on the mill’s investment (capital expenditure) history, such as upgrading machinery, adding new machinery, adding new product line capabilities, etc. Capitalized maintenance e

How to compare a table of prices

Published May 29th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Table of prices Learn how to work with the Multi Price Table widget to build a customized table of up to 100 prices and data fields to monitor market changes and price relationships. Introduction View up to 150 prices with customizable rows and columns of data fields in the Multi Price Table widget, enabling you to monitor and compare pricing and re

What can the Scenario Matrix do?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What can the Scenario Matrix do? Export the data into Excel as a template with all the unit costs, make the adjustments you need and upload the template again into the cost benchmarking market. Let’s get you some help - schedule a training session for Advanced Scenarios

MyDesk - LME Forward Curves

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Forward Curves - MyDesk The LME Forward Curves widget provides a summary “thumbnail” forward curve chart for each of the non-ferrous, prompt date system metals. It enables you to rapidly see the structure of the forward curve; if it is in contango or backwardation etc. In addition, by clicking on each individual metal label, the widget expands t

How does Fastmarkets RISI do the cost benchmarking?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How does Fastmarkets RISI do the cost benchmarking? Fastmarkets uses a bottom-up approach with a mass and energy balance to determine unit consumptions on a machine-by-product basis, which is then combined with regional unit costs to generate cash costs.

How to change or reset my password

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Can I change my password? Yes, click here to Log in and select “Reset your password”.

Installation information for technology teams

Published June 5th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Installation FAQ for technology teams Are changes needed to our organization’s firewall? The Fastmarkets platform requires access to the internet and includes the following: Fastmarkets Dashboard (desktop application) Fastmarkets Dashboard (via web browser) iPhone app Excel Add-in In some organizations, security restrictions are put in place via fir

Create a new layout in a MyDesk workspace

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Add or delete a tab Mydesk is organised across a series of tabs, which you can configure and customize yourself. You can also create new tabs to your own specifications. To select a tab simply click on it. The content you have selected to display on that tab will be displayed. To add a tab, click on the + icon at the end of the tabs. You will also s

Has the Add-in undergone any security testing?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Has the Add-in undergone any security testing? Yes, it has passed a rigorous set of security testing, including: Security threat modelling Penetration testing Static code analysis

What are Furnish Chemicals?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What are Furnish Chemicals? Furnish chemicals (shown after Chemicals on the Cash Cost Reports) are used for the production of pulp or recycling of recovered paper and includes pulping and bleaching chemicals.

What exchange data is available in the Fastmarkets platform?

Published May 30th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange data available in the Fastmarkets Platform Clients using the Fastmarkets Platform have access to a limited amount of delayed exchange market data as part of their subscription. Clients requiring live exchange data should contact their account manager to view the breadth of live data available. The following data sets are available on a dela

Why does Fastmarkets not cost benchmark more wood products/sawmills?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Why does Fastmarkets not cost benchmark more wood products/sawmills? Our benchmark model currently focuses on evaluating dimension lumber grades, but this model is not designed to evaluate the wider range of lumber, including stud, cedar, timber board, and specialty wood products mills that we cover in the Asset Database yet. Fastmarkets’ wood produ

Fastmarkets Consulting

Published July 30th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Fastmarkets Consulting Fastmarkets offers a bespoke consultancy service for specific or customised market intelligence queries you may need outside our subscription products. We have a dedicated consultancy team who will be happy to help. To find out more, take a look at our consultancy pages or contact them here.

Using the news list widget

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

News With this view and subsequent guide, you will learn how to customize headlines and articles you view, discover the key drivers behind price moves, get the big picture of markets or understand what competitors are doing using the Dashboard News List widget. Add and search for news using the news list widget The News List widget allows you t

I have not received a welcome email or a password reset email

Published May 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Not received welcome email or password reset? If you've not received your welcome email, check out the information below: Fastmarkets Dashboard You should have received a welcome email from hello@fastmarkets.com confirming your username and access to the dashboard. This email contains a link for you to create or reset your password. If you can't fi

How are new versions of the Add-in released to users?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How are new versions of the Add-in released to users? The Add-in has been designed with a low-friction deployment mechanism, making it as easy as possible for our users to receive updates as we increase the functionality and improve the Add-in. By default, a user will be notified when a new version is available at the time that they open or login to

We're not receiving emails - What SPF and DKIM records can be used in our DNS settings?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

My company is not receiving welcome emails to reset passwords or access the Excel Add-in or the emails are being blocked by our email gateway filtering system at corporate as "bulk" mail. What SPF and DKIM records can be used in our DNS settings? Customers experiencing email gateway filtering issues blocking the receipt of Fastmarkets welcome emails

Fastmarkets events

Published July 30th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Global events and conferences Fastmarkets offer a range of global events. To see what's coming up and find out more about them, take a look at our Events pages. Agriculture events Fastmarkets’ agriculture events provide insights-rich and network-centric experiences to enable trading and guide strategic decisions To find out more, click here. Coa

Accessing news over the Mobile App

Published July 27th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Accessing news over the Mobile App The news section in the Fastmarkets Android app is available to read all of the latest Fastmarkets news to which you have access. This can be done using three sections: All News, My News and Top Stories. All News You can scroll through to stay up to date with all market stories included in your subscription. My

Further help

Published May 28th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

If you have more questions or need further support please look at all the help content available on our Support Hub. If you can't find what you need and want to contact our support teams then Let’s get you some help .

What is the difference between price and cost?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the difference between price and cost? Price: Fastmarkets reports market prices (of pulp, paper, paperboard, wood, etc) mostly on monthly basis - these prices can be found in the Fastmarkets price tables (workspaces/price tables) Cost: Fastmarkets' estimate of cash (production) cost that occurs to produce pulp, paper or wood products, as sho

What is an integrated mill? How can I find integrated mills?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is an integrated mill? How can I find integrated mills? An integrated mill produces (part of) its own virgin/wood pulp at the same mill location. Non-integrated or semi-integrated mills must buy pulp on the market (market pulp). Paper mills using recovered paper are not using the nomination "integrated" configuration. Non-integrated = >90% o

Carbon FAQs

Published June 30th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Find answers to the most common questions about Fastmarkets Carbon platform.

Sharing login credentials

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Can I share login credentials with a colleague? Log-in credentials are unique and cannot be shared with others. Please contact your Account Manager to add users. - Let’s get you some help .

How does Fastmarkets determine the delivery cost?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How does Fastmarkets determine the delivery cost? Fastmarkets RISI works with a logistics company to produce a detailed report that includes delivery cost estimates for each pulp, paper and board mill to the top global p&p market destinations. In addition to this logistics report, Fastmarkets RISI regularly incorporates feedback from producers a

Does Fastmarkets show production per mill?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Does Fastmarkets show production per mill? No, Fastmarkets only shows production capacity (installed/nominal capacity). Fastmarkets does not have access to production numbers per mill. In the Asset Database, you will find Grade/Product Produced and Total Pulp Produced, which refer to capacity numbers. Analytical Cornerstone cost benchmarking uses i

How many mills are cost benchmarked?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How many mills are cost benchmarked? Fastmarkets cost benchmarking currently contains close to 2,700 active pulp and paper mills and over 400 active wood products mills. Historical data for inactive or closed mills can still be viewed in Analytical Cornerstone if they were previously cost benchmarked. It is possible to see in the Asset Database whi

Exchange pricing lag

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange pricing lag The Fastmarkets Dashboard provides the ability to view exchange and physical prices. Depending on your access it is possible to display previous day or delayed prices from the London Metal Exchange (LME), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Based on the licensing terms and conditions for each

Navigating the Dashboard

Published July 7th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Navigating the Dashboard The Dashboard allows you to customize how you view prices, charts, tables and news by using the following: Workspaces – Blank canvases on which you will add tools to track the prices and markets that are vital to your business. You can save and pin your favorite workspaces or you can use the market page templates already av

What is the source of the foreign exchange rates used to convert prices in the Dashboard and Excel Add-in?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

The Dashboard uses spot foreign exchange (FX) rates provided by third-party data provider that takes indicative rates from a wide range of FX venues, for current and historical currency conversion. Daily rates on current pricing are provided by NetDania and update intraday (for conversion of published assessments and average prices) on a 30 minute b

What is the Index Builder?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the Index Builder? The Index Builder is a tool to look back in history to make sense of the evolution of the should-cost of packaging, using a different view on Fastmarkets' data: market prices and cash (production) cost info (paper mill cost). It helps packaging buyers to understand their suppliers’ cost based on weighted average of the mil

What is the difference between Cost Date and Balance Date?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the difference between Cost Date and Balance Date? Cost Date affects the input costs (fiber, energy, labor, etc.), whereas the Balance Date affects the operating conditions of the individual mills. 1. The Cost Date is updated every quarter. We add the new quarter with preliminary Cost Date for the latest quarter as soon as possible, but it t

What news is available to me through the Dashboard?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Along with your data licensed prices, if you also subscribe to a Fastmarkets news package the dashboard will continue to provide news as part of your subscription from Fastmarkets MB, Fastmarkets AMM or Fastmarkets IM. You can create, display and export custom news searches via the News List Widget in the dashboard. Please note: Market news is not a

What is Total Finished Products in the Asset Database?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is Total Finished Products in the Asset Database? Total Finished Products refers to a mill's production capacity, typically expressed in metric tonnes per year (mt/yr or FMT) or short tons per year (st/yr or FST). It represents the mill's or machine's potential output, not necessarily its actual production. On the Mill Overview page, you will s

Share content with Dashboard users

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How to share content with other users It is possible to share a copy of workspaces, prices or news articles with other Dashboard users through email or messaging, which will save time where multiple Dashboard users require a similar workspace set up, quickly replicate and amend your own workspaces or to share news content with colleagues. Sharing wo

Searching for data in MyDesk

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Finding prices and data The Content Finder is organised by exchange, data sources and tools. Exchange data – search for LME, CME and SHFE prices and warehouse stocks Other data sources – view precious metal spot rates, LBMA prices, spot FX rates, FX forwards, and US interest rates Access historical data in both tables and charts View the latest news

How does Fastmarkets update the data and how often?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How does Fastmarkets update the data and how often? Fastmarkets continuously updates the pulp, paper, wood mill and bioenergy plant data, but the frequency of updates for specific mills can vary. The database is updated on a daily basis to reflect any major changes in the industry, such as rebuilds, restarts, new mill openings, etc. These changes a

Exchange prices in the historic data table widget

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange prices in the historic data table widget Physical and exchange prices can be aligned in the same Historic Data Table widget. The exchange prices and physical prices align side by side. For physical prices which do not price daily the table "carries forward" prices in grey between assessment date to align with daily exchange prices. For Exc

MyDesk - My messages

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

My Messages - MyDesk From time to time Fastmarkets will send you messages that will automatically appear on your desktop in the Messages tab, on the left hand side of the screen. Messages you may receive could be about changes to our service, exchange information, or notifications of any issues we may be experiencing. We use it as an important mecha

Introduction to MyDesk

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

MyDesk introducing a customisable overview MyDesk is fully configurable and customisable - choose what to display on your screen and where to display it. The “Free Format” tab enables you to size and position your data with unmatched flexibility. Minimize parts - Hide data not frequently used and maximise the amount of prices on your screen Filter n

When I login to the Dashboard I see the following “no matching state in storage” error. What should I do?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Please check your browser cookies – there can be an issue with using storage when third-party cookies are blocked. Steps in Google Chrome: Open Dashboard login page – https://dashboard.fastmarkets.com Delete cookies from dashboard. fastmarkets.com in Chrome settings. Click on the 3 dots elipse icon to the right of the URL bar > Settings > Secu

How can I configure ports and firewalls following download and login to the Excel Add-in to connect and retrieve reference data from Fastmarkets?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How can I configure ports and firewalls following download and login to the Excel Add-in to connect and retrieve reference data from Fastmarkets? The Fastmarkets Excel Add-in uses several APIs to retrieve its data. If you wish to configure your firewall using domain names, please whitelist the following: api.fastmarkets.com auth.fastmarkets.com dow

Download Excel Add-in templates

Published June 16th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

You can download any of the Excel Add-in templates using the links below. To watch a short video showing you how to work with these, please see - Working with Excel Add-in templates . Data package Name Link Base Metals All base metals Download Minor Metals All minor metals Download Industrial minerals All industrial mine

What is Fastmarkets' cost benchmarking?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is Fastmarkets' cost benchmarking? Cost efficiency comparison on a weighted average cash cost (production cost, based on variable cost*) of pulp, paper, paperboard and selected sawn timber mills in the world. Fastmarkets cost benchmarking *Cost for fibre, chemicals, energy, labour and maintenance

Does the Add-in store any encrypted data on the users’ hard drive?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Does the Add-in store any encrypted data on the users’ hard drive? Yes. The Add-in stores the users OAuth 2.0 refresh token in the users data folder (C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Roaming\Euromoney), this token is encrypted using standards Windows operating system encryption API’s, namely DPAPI.

Introduction to exchange data

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Introduction to exchange data The Fastmarkets Dashboard provides the ability to view exchange and physical prices. Depending on your access it is possible to display previous day or delayed prices from the London Metal Exchange (LME), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE). Based on the licensing terms and conditions

Can I share login credentials?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Can I share login credentials with a colleague? Login credentials are unique and cannot be shared. Please contact your account manager to add users.

Where can I find Pricing Rationale?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Pricing Rationales are a short piece of text published at the same time as the price explaining how the assessment was developed and the price was derived at. This provides increased transparency, explaining how and why expert judgment was exercised, and is provided for all our IOSCO audited prices. Pricing rationales are published on select prices

How does Fastmarkets RISI allocate energy consumption per PM?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How does Fastmarkets RISI allocate energy consumption per PM? We simulate heat (steam) and electricity consumption separately for each product on each machine and pulping process. Both consumptions vary based on multiple factors. For completely identical processes, equipment and products, an older machine is likely to consume more; but two operation

What security protocols does the Add-in utilize?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What security protocols does the Add-in utilize? The Excel Add-in uses modern internet security standards, namely OAuth 2.0. In order to use the Add-in, users will need to logon and be authenticated using their Fastmarkets credentials.

Where can I find the Daily AMM pdf?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Where can I find the Daily AMM pdf? The Dashboard provides a flexible, customizable tool to view news and prices in one place. Subscribe to curated Daily and weekly newsletters for your market within the Dashboard and receive email notifications providing the information you need in a digestible format. These are created from our pre-defined Market

I'm not receiving newsletters

Published May 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Check or setup newsletter delivery To ensure you receive all the reports you want, make sure they are selected for delivery. Follow the steps below to manage your report subscriptions. 1. Log in to the platform using your credentials. 2. From the left-hand menu, navigate to "Newsletter & Reports". 3. In the menu, search for the product y

What does the EBIDTA Cost curve contain?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does the EBIDTA Cost curve contain? Financial profitability: financials have been estimated – they are updated automatically by the Analytical Cornerstone application.

How do I get my username and password?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How do I get my username and password? - Excel Your username is your email address. You will receive a welcome email with a link to reset your password. Set your password, then click here to download the installer for the Excel Add-in. After installation, you will use the same username and password to log in to the Excel Add-in.

Some of the market pages are grayed out and I see error messages for specific prices. Why do I not have access to this?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Market pages are pre-populated workspaces by market area created by our editors as guide to key prices, raw materials and news for a specific market or commodity. Access to content within the market pages is determined by the data package you subscribe to; you can access any market pages that contain at least one price to which you subscribe. If you

What can the Quick Scenario tool do?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What can the Quick Scenario tool do? A Quick Scenario allows to see the impact of a change in Energy or Fiber price, as well as Exchange Rates. Quick scenarios can be applied to the market that you are currently viewing, which makes this feature useful in situations where all mills within a certain market would be affected by a given change. If the

Getting started with the Excel Add-in

Published July 15th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Getting started with the Excel Add-in This page contains links to the most helpful pages for new users to help them get started with the Excel Add-in To book training with our team, to ensure you get all the help you need please book one of our Webinar training sessions . To download and Install the Excel Add-in - Download and install the Excel Add

Accessing prices in the Mobile App

Published July 27th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Accessing prices in the Mobile App Favourite prices If you are already a user of the Fastmarkets Dashboard you will be prompted to add or review any saved favourited prices you may have when you first log in. Searching for a price To search and add price to your Mobile app, tap on the Search icon in the bottom navigation bar. You can type in a

What is the difference between Consumption and Furnish?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the difference between Consumption and Furnish? Consumption refers to the total quantity of a specific raw material used during the production process, focusing on a single raw material such as hardwood chips or softwood roundwood consumption. It's important to note that this consumption figure is calculated before the pulping process, as "w

How can I efficiently adjust a currency scenario?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How can I efficiently adjust a currency scenario? In the Scenario Matrix, Currencies that are usually linked to each other (like Danish Crown to the Euro), will not update themselves automatically, you would thus have to do this separately for each currency. Please request for a training session here - Let’s get you some help .

How to find and view London Metal Exchange (LME) data sets

Published May 29th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How to find and view London Metal Exchange (LME) Data Sets LME Officials The LME Official price is the last bid and offer quoted during the 2nd open out cry (or Ring) session for each of the ferrous metals (Copper, Aluminium, Nickel, Zinc, Lead, Tin, Aluminium Alloy and NASAAC) and Cobalt on the LME. The LME Official Settlement Price is the cash A

MyDesk Mobile

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

MyDesk Mobile MyDesk has a mobile website that allows you to access data on a mobile device. You can save the URL http://mobile.fastmarkets.com/ onto your mobile (Android and iOS). When you login, use your MyDesk login username and password. From the MyDesk mobile URL, access pre-build key data displays from the Prices menu. The standard mobile URL

Exchange prices in the price chart widget

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange prices in the price chart widget You can add exchange prices which only update once daily such as the LME Officials or Unofficials to the Price Chart widget in the same way as other widgets. Click the “Widget action” button, then “Edit Widget”. Use the Search to find LME Aluminium official prices by choosing Source first. Type “LME” and s

What does Total Cost contain?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does Total Cost contain? The Total Cost (curve) is the total of the Cash Cost, Capital Cost and Selling, General & Administrative (SG&A) Cost. SG&A Cost includes all indirect expenses incurred to run a mill, except for capital and cash costs. These indirect expenses include company salaries (employees that work for more than one mil

Add, remove or change user details

Published June 11th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Managing users details How to add, remove, or change details of a user You will need to contact us to do this but don't worry, it's quick and easy - Contact us here . Please select “I want to manage my users” from the drop down and we'll ensure we route your request to the correct team. If you are adding users please ensure you include: Company na

How do I compare specific mills?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How do I compare specific mills? With the current version of the Asset Database, you can compare two or more specific mills by creating an Asset Group. To do this: go to Mill details page click Add to/Remove from Asset Group on the new window, click New Asset Group and type the Asset Group Name when adding additional mills to this group via their mi

What does the Reline Baseline Data do?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does the Reline Baseline Data do? The Reline Baseline Data was originally built to serve users who know the actual costs of their mills (opposed to Fastmarkets estimates) or believe it's very different. You can reline Consumption, Unit Cost or Delivery Cost of individual mills, of the mill that you're currently looking at - which needs to be do

Can I change the background color of the Dashboard?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

The background color of the Dashboard can be changed from a dark to light theme by clicking on your user name in the top right corner. Select to change the Dashboard theme or only news articles.

Where is the Add-in installed?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Where is the Add-in installed? If the Add-in is downloaded from the Fastmarkets Support website and installed, the Add-in is installed to the user’s profile here: C:\Users\[user.name]\AppData\Local\Programs\Euromoney\Fastmarkets Excel Add-in Optionally, companies may opt to have their IT departments install the Add-in for them, in this scenario the

Does Fastmarkets have data on water consumption or water treatment?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Does Fastmarkets have water consumption or water treatment data for pulp, paper or wood and bioenergy mills? Water usage and effluent data is not available to the extent that would allow good enough coverage, while the nature of water-related consumptions is more of a process-control-based decision rather than a clear and consistent consequence of e

Exchange price in the multi price table widget

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange price in the multi price table widget Exchange prices (London Metal Exchange, CME Group and Shanghai Futures Exchange) can be displayed alongside physical prices in existing widgets. This means you can create your own Single Price Tile, Price Chart, Multiple Price Table and Historic Price Table widgets that include physical prices and excha

MyDesk - LME Forward Spread Calculator

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Forward Spread Calculator - MyDesk The LME Forward Spreads Calculator enables the calculation of LME non-ferrous metal spreads (carries) from the most recent LME Closing Prices. Spreads are provided in USD, GBP, EUR and JPY as Close values are provided in these currencies for all prompt dates in the LME Closing Prices. In the widget, select the

Login to MyDesk

Published May 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Login to MyDesk To login to MyDesk Click here Common login problems If your attempt to login in unsuccessful you may have received the following error message: Error message: “Invalid Username or password”  There are a number of steps you may wish to take to resolve this: Make sure you use the correct username, if you can't remember this Let’s ge

Exchange additional data and functionality

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange additional data and functionality Data sets Beyond the LME, CME and SHFE datasets, Fastmarkets Dashboard also contains additional data from third parties on the following: Spot FX and forward rates Spot precious prices Daily ECB rates LBMA prices The data can be added to all existing widgets in the same way as described above. To the l

I’ve successfully installed and logged into the Dashboard. Why is my Multi Price Table not displaying any prices?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

The Fastmarkets uses websockets connection, an advanced technology to provide immediate price updates for physical price assessments as well as streaming exchange and Over the Counter (OTC) prices such as precious metal and foreign exchange spot prices to the Dashboard. In some instances, your IT team may have imposed firewall restrictions on this t

What does the Compare tab represent?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does the Compare tab represent? The third tab on the Index Builder shows a comparison of how the cost and the price evolution – or how a contract for this type of packaging would have evolved if it was indexed to the price of paper vs. indexed to the cost to produce the paper.

MyDesk - LME Averages Calculator

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Averages Calculator - MyDesk The LME Average Calculator allows you to create an average for a bespoke period, or just the normal monthly LME averages. You can find this in the Content Finder under the Data Tools and Calculators section of the menu. This calculator can be used to calculate the LME Official Average for any period defined by two us

Why is there no cost associated to Emission data in Fastmarkets' Cost benchmarking?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Why is there no cost associated to Emission data in Fastmarkets' Cost benchmarking? There is no comparable global pricing system that would make sense to apply as unit cost across the whole coverage. However, Fastmarkets publishes a competitive Carbon Credits analytics product with clear edge in price reporting and forecasting.

What’s the logic behind the Proxy grades?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What’s the logic behind the Proxy grades? We do not cover all grades and geographies, so these are the best estimated substitutes, that were identified by PPI editors and price reporters.

How can I display average prices in the Dashboard?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How can I display average prices in the Dashboard? Fastmarkets published average prices can be displayed across all widgets. The averages price calculation methodology for Fastmarkets US prices changed as of January 2021. You can find out more here: https://www.fastmarkets.com/support/averages-changes-faq Multi Price Table widget – select weekly, mo

What are exempt or non-exempt employees?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What are exempt or non-exempt employees? Exempt and non-exempt are US terminology. Non-exempt are employees that perform work that is subject to overtime provisions if they work overtime, for example an accountant. Exempt employees are exempt from overtime laws (supervisors, managers).

Where can I find the Fastmarkets cost benchmarking methodology?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Fastmarkets Where can I find the cost benchmarking methodology? To find more about our methodologies take a look here.

Do you provide LME Official FX rates?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

To search for LME FX rates click Add Widget in the top right corner, select Multi Price Table, then search for Source: LME, keyword “Official” and keyword Euro, Yen or Pound. Historical data can be added to a Historical Price Table widget and exported to Excel. Please note it is currently not possible to use these rates for currency conversion (Dash

What is Analytical Cornerstone?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is Analytical Cornerstone? Analytical Cornerstone (sometimes just referred to as Cornerstone) is the brand name for the Fastmarkets RISI cost benchmarking software.

How to uninstall the Dashboard

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What if I wish to uninstall the Dashboard? You can uninstall the application by opening the Windows Control Panel, selecting “Programs and Features,” selecting “Fastmarkets Dashboard” and clicking “Uninstall.”

Which wood mills/sawmills/lumber plants are covered? Why are there only wood mills based on softwood? Will there be wood mills based on hardwood?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Which wood mills/sawmills/lumber plants are covered? The Asset Database (and therefore the few mills covered in cost benchmarking) focuses on information related to softwood mills as Fastmarkets has traditionally focussed softwood only. We are not (yet) including hardwood mills or structural composite lumber plants, but are expecting to add these in

Excel add in – MyDesk DDE Server

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Excel add in - MyDesk DDE Server The MyDesk DDE Server allows dynamic live price links (eg LME Copper Official Ask) to be setup in Microsoft Excel. When the prices change it is automatically updated in Excel. You can also view a limited amount of historical data that will also update automatically in Excel. How to download the DDE Server Download

MyDesk - Alerts

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Alerts - MyDesk In the Content Finder menu, go to Customisation Tools and select My Alerts. Select the arrow to open the menu. Set the alert type – you can choose to select an alert on a news keyword, a periodic price or a price trigger. Then select the Next button. Note that once you have set up an alert, you would come back to this menu to change

Why is the Multi Price Table not displaying any prices

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

I've successfully installed and logged into the Dashboard. Why is my Multi Price Table not displaying any prices? The Fastmarkets uses websockets connection, an advanced technology to provide immediate price updates for physical price assessments as well as streaming exchange and Over the Counter (OTC) prices such as precious metal and foreign excha

How does Fastmarkets determine the cost of pulpwood?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How does Fastmarkets determine the cost of pulpwood? The cost of wood in Analytical Cornerstone is specifically for pulpwood used in the pulp and paper industry. Logs, e.g. for sawmills, have different (higher) cost due to quality, etc. For the price differential between logs and chips there are several arguments both ways. Chips could command a hig

Become a customer

Published May 14th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

To become a Fastmarkets customer or to find out more about how Fastmarkets can help your business, please get in touch and our team will arrange a follow up at your convenience. Get in touch

How do we get to the man hours in Labor cost/manning?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How do we get to the man hours in Labor cost/manning? Manning is worked out on an averaged capacity utilization. For integrated mills, the staff for the pulp line is included: the overall manning is split up into the PM and other processes. The Summary on our Flowsheets shows number of people (machine operators, maintenance technicians (both paid on

"No matching state in storage" error

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

When I login to the Dashboard I see the following "no matching state in storage" error. What should I do? 1. Check browser cookies - There is an issue with using storage when third-party cookies are blocked. Steps in Google Chrome: a. Open Dashboard login page – https://dashboard.fastmarkets.com b. Delete cookies from dashboard. fastmarkets.com in

What does Cash Cost contain?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does Cash Cost contain? Cash cost contains “cash manufacturing cost": fibre, chemicals, energy, labour, materials and maintenance.

What is included in Consumption (consumables)?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is included in Consumption (consumables)? Pulp and paper mills: Consumption contains wood fiber, market pulp, recovered paper, chemicals and energy (fossil and bioenergy fuels). Wood Products and Bioenergy plants: Consumption only includes wood, with the exception of cost benchmarked mills, which also show energy consumption.

Exchange prices in the live chart widget

Published June 13th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Exchange prices in the live chart widget Visualizing trends and intra-day price movements is critical to monitoring and analyzing your markets. The Live Chart widget enables you to view historical and intra-day data for a single exchange price with open/high/low/close prices. Chart either a line, bar, candle or mountain chart for one price, displayi

How many mills are included in the Asset Database? Does Fastmarkets cover mills globally?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How many mills are included? Does Fastmarkets cover all mills globally? Our database covers over 4,000 pulp and paper mills globally (comprehensive coverage worldwide), along with over 1,000 wood products mills (mostly in North America, but some in Europe) and over 2,600 bioenergy mills worldwide.

Exporting data from the dashboard error

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

When exporting data from the Dashboard to the Excel Add-in the formula returns a #VALUE error. Exporting prices from the Dashboard is a 2-step process – the format of the data copied from the Dashboard is controlled by the regional/language settings in the browser. These need to be aligned to the below Region settings of your pc or laptop in order f

Why am I not able to retrieve monthly average prices for US weekly scrap composites?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

The following weekly scrap composite prices are an average of the daily composite prices calculated for the week from Friday to Thursday. Published monthly averages are not available for these prices. The corresponding daily composite prices, shown in the table below, should be used to retrieve monthly average prices.

Do you have a cost comparison for converters/converting plants/corrugators?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Do you have a cost comparison for converters/converting plants/corrugators? Fastmarkets RISI mainly focuses on paper production, but not on its conversion. We do currently have a database with corrugated converters of containerboard .

Which CO2 emissions have been take into account?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Which CO2 emissions have been taken into account? Direct fossil CO2 emissions are calculated from the simulated energy and fuel consumption estimates with default conversion factors. Scope 1 are direct fossil CO2 emissions for fuels burned at the mill. Fastmarkets RISI also estimates direct biofuel usage, which would enable our users to estimate ma

Chinese language Dashboard

Published June 4th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

View the Dashboard in Chinese You have the option to view the Dashboard in Chinese. On the login screen, select your language preference (English or Chinese) to determine the language used in the Dashboard. This selection will default to the language of your browser. You can change your language preference at any time by clicking on your user name i

Excel Add-in updates

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Excel Add-in updates When you log in, you will be notified if a new version of the Excel Add-in becomes available. Once you confirm that you wish to install the new version, Excel will restart and the update will be installed automatically.

How can I see what is included in the data package for my Fastmarkets data license?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How can I see what is included in the data package for my Fastmarkets data license? In order to use the Fastmarkets platform, which includes the Fastmarkets Dashboard, Excel Add-in and Mobile App, you need to be a licensed user of Fastmarkets prices. To view which prices are part of your data package, please see here.

Why is there no forecasted data?

Published June 19th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Why is there no forecasted data? Although we forecast prices, we do not forecast the cash cost in our cost benchmarking .

What is the difference between cost benchmarking basic and cost benchmarking?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the difference between cost benchmarking basic and cost benchmarking? Cost benchmarking basic is a limited version of the full Cost Benchmarking database (Analytical Cornerstone), available to subscribers of forecasts in the Asset Database. Differences: Cost benchmarking basic shows cost by mill by product (unable to select cost by machine

How to uninstall the Excel Add-in?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What if I wish to uninstall the Excel Add-in? Uninstall the application by opening the Windows Control Panel, selecting “Programs and Features”, selecting “Fastmarkets Excel Add-in” and clicking “Uninstall”.

Getting started with the Dashboard

Published July 15th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Getting started with the Dashboard This page contains links to the most helpful pages for new users to help them install, and get started with using the Dashboard. To book training with our team, to ensure you get all the help you need please book one of our Webinar training sessions . To download and Install the Dashboard - Dashboard installation

Why are we not showing more recent cost?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Why are we not showing more recent cost? The Cost Index is linked to our Cost Benchmarking , which is updated on a quarterly basis. There is always a lag for the latest quarter data because of the comprehensiveness and breadth of data points involved and is usually final two full months after the end of a quarter. We do show preliminary data as soon

MyDesk - LME Trades Downloads

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Trades Downloads - MyDesk The LME Trades Downloads widget provides “Time and Sales” downloads. The downloads are provided in a csv format to save locally to on your PC. Select the relevant metal, this only works for the non ferrous metals suite. You can then select the date from one of the five previous days and then select LME Select, LME Mat

MyDesk - LME Forward Curve Builder

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Forward Curve Builder - MyDesk The LME Forward Curve Builder displays the latest and historical LME Closing Prices in both graphical and tabular form. Select the settlement date, (this is the date you want to see the historical prices for). Then pick the curve dates eg cash out to 15 months, then click on Get Data. This will then display the LME

What does “Overhead/Profit/Other” represent?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does “Overhead/Profit/Other” represent? “Overhead/Profit/Other” represents that of the paper producer. Any “Overhead/Profit/Other” for the converter should be included in “Converting”. This percentage rate interrelates to the COST DRIVERS entered manually in this filter. We provide the placeholder estimates (like the Overhead/Profit/Other) base

Fastmarkets Carbon

Published May 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Fastmarkets Carbon The Fastmarkets Carbon Platform represents a ground-breaking solution for professionals seeking comprehensive carbon market intelligence. Launched in May 2025, this platform offers an integrated approach to understanding carbon credit markets through multifaceted insights and advanced analytics.

How to create price charts

Published May 29th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Introduction - Charts The Dashboard provides two different types of charting tools. The first is the Price Chart widget enabling you to identify trends, compare prices over time or gain a view of where to forecast prices graphically for prices with a high/low/mid value or bid/ask/mid. View historical pricing as a line chart for up to eight prices fo

MyDesk - LME Indications & Ticker, the CME Ticker & the OTC Ticker

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

LME Indications & Ticker, the CME Ticker and the OTC Ticker - MyDesk These 3 widgets show trade by trade or quote by quote from the LME and CME or was quoted for OTC markets. They are all found in the Content Finder under Data Tools and Calculators All three Ticker widgets give direct access to a “raw” data feed and also provide a look back a

Does the Add-in encrypt traffic/data between the Add-in and Fastmarkets backend servers?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Does the Add-in encrypt traffic/data between the Add-in and Fastmarkets backend servers? Yes. All communication between the Excel Add-in and our Fastmarkets API’s/servers is encrypted over a TLS connection. This communication channel is TLS 1.2 compliant.

Can I share a workspace or content with colleagues or market participants?

Published June 6th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Can I share a workspace or content with colleagues or market participants? The Dashboard provides the functionality to share workspaces, prices, market pages and news articles with other Dashboard users to save time with workspace creation and to quickly highlight key information with colleagues. This function will provide a copy of the workspace or

What are Other Chemicals?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What are Other Chemicals? Other Chemicals category includes defoamers, raw water treatment and effluent treatment, washing and other miscellaneous chemicals used throughout the mill. Other chemicals for pulp lines are included in furnish chemicals cost items. They include pulping and bleaching chemicals.

Let’s get you some help

Published May 14th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Need more help? The quickest way to get help for a majority of common queries is to explore our help centre but if you still need to contact us because we've said you need to in order to resolve a query, or because you can't find what you need, please use this form so we route your query to the right team of experts. Inquiry or issue: –None– I wan

Why can't I see a product feature?

Published May 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

If you have a problem logging in, please refer to: I can't login to MyDesk I can't login to HMR I can't login to the dashboard If you are able to login and still can't access features you are expecting to see - Let’s get you some help .

Excel Add-in User Guide

Published June 16th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Excel Add-in user guide Thank you for choosing to use Fastmarkets’ Excel Add-in. As part of Fastmarkets’ platform strategy, we will provide customers with richer, more flexible mechanisms to securely access our data. This tool will allow you to pull our pricing data directly into Excel, thereby enabling you to embed our prices into your workflow. Th

API technical information

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

API Technical information and FAQ How do I access the API? Customers of Fastmarkets data will typically have their own services that will consume and process data. As such, authentication based on a single user’s credentials are not appropriate. Instead, a unique Service Key and Service Name is issued by Fastmarkets which can be used when calling t

Book a training webinar

Published May 19th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Enhance your expertise with Fastmarkets Register for a Training Webinar Consider signing up for a Fastmarkets Dashboard webinar, tailored to help you maximize the value of Fastmarkets tools and data. These sessions are designed to support users across various regions and sectors. We encourage you to secure your place at your earliest convenienc

Data Catalogue for MyDesk

Published July 21st, 2025 by Tom Berrett

The following list is what data sets are available on MyDesk. Users requiring access should contact their Account Manager. Source Type Data set LME Benchmarks & key data Officials, Monthly Averages, LME FX, Warehouse Stocks, Closing Prices Live pricing – non ferrous Cash, 3M, C-3M and Lowest pricing (Ring, Select or Composite pricing availa

What ports does the Add-in communicate over?

Published June 9th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What ports does the Add-in communicate over? The API’s that the Add-in communicates via are RESTful, given all communication is via a TLS channel, all traffic uses port 443. Does the user installing the Add-in need to be local Administrator on their PC? No. The Add-in is installed to the users profile by default which does not require admin privil

Getting started with mobile app

Published July 15th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Getting started with the mobile app This page contains links to the most helpful pages for new users to help them install, the mobile app. To book training with our team, to ensure you get all the help you need please book one of our Webinar training sessions . To download and install the mobile app on IOS for iPhone - How to install the iPhone app

What does the "Converting" part represent?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What does the "Converting" part represent? This % is a rough estimate that was based on the production of an unprinted box. It can/should be overridden by the user editing/creating a model to reflect the real converting cost % (the Index Builder user should get back with the supplier). Converting cost is fixed over time in the IB model - we understa

What is the Price Index in the Index Builder?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the Price Index in the Index Builder? The Price Index shows how the cost of finished packaging material should have evolved based on the market price of the selected paper(board). It uses the Fastmarkets prices for those grades in the chosen region or country or based on where the paper mill is located. Fastmarkets price reporters have deter

Error message - iat is in the future: 1638464093

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

I am unable to login to the Dashboard due to an error about the past or future followed by a series of numbers “iat is in the future: 1638464093” This error occurs when the data and time is out of synch with your pc or laptop, commonly seen following daylight savings changes. Please update the time on device to the real time for their time zone (so

When to change the Balance Date if I use an older Cost Date?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

When to change the Balance Date if I use an older Cost Date? Change the Balance Date if you are looking to evaluate the effect of some specific process change or investment that happened since, or to included mills that were closed since. Keep the latest available Balance Date if you want to compare the latest operational setup with different unit c

What is the Cost Index?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What is the Cost Index? The Cost Index shows the evolution of the cash (production) cost of the packaging product based on the cost to produce the base paper(board) material used for the packaging. It shows how your contract with your packaging supplier should have evolved if it was fixed to the cost of the raw material, (paper), while keeping the %

Billing and invoice questions?

Published June 12th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

Have a question about billing or an invoice? If you need to talk to us about a billing or invoice query then Let’s get you some help . Further help If you have more questions or need more help please look at all the help content If you have more questions or need further support please look at all the help content available on our Support Hub. If

How do I compare two, three or more specific mills with each other in Analytical Cornerstone?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

How do I compare two, three or more specific mills with each other in Analytical Cornerstone? With the current version of Analytical Cornerstone, you can only look at a market or at a mill. To compare two or more specific mills, this needs to be done on the market level. For this purpose, you need to create a Saved Mill Group: Go to Mills, type and

What can an Advanced Scenario do?

Published June 24th, 2025 by Tom Berrett

What can an Advanced Scenario do? The Advanced Scenario can give a more refined scenario on the impact on a specific mill within its market. There are more options of adjustments than in Quick Scenario or Reline Baseline, for Market Adjustments as a whole and/or for Mill Adjustment (that needs to be applied to a specific mill). Let’s get you some h