# Anatomy of a Price Assessment

## What defines an individual price assessment? {#what-defines-an-individual-price-assessment}

!!!light Summary
Each assessment is a distinct monthly price series pinned down by a combination of commercial descriptors — location, market side, price type, and commercial basis — plus, where applicable, a freight derivation from a reference assessment.
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Every commodity is covered through one or more price assessments, and each assessment is a distinct monthly series identified by the combination of descriptors it carries:

- **Location** — where the price applies, at any level of the Intratec geographic hierarchy (see [At which geographic levels are assessments defined?](#at-which-geographic-levels-are-assessments-defined)).
- **Market side** — the flow the price measures, for example export, import, or domestic sales.
- **Price type** — the pricing arrangement, for example spot, long-term contract, or transaction price.
- **Commercial basis** — the delivery terms the price reflects, for example FOB, CFR, EXW, or DDP.
- **Freight derivation** (where applicable) — a netback or netforward relationship deriving the series from a reference assessment, as described in [What are freight-based prices?](price-assessments.md#what-are-freight-based-prices).

The values named for each descriptor are examples, not a closed list — the assessment catalog records the exact definition of every published series. Each series also follows a single assessment approach — compiled, trade-based, formula-based, manufacturing cost-based, or freight-based — which is fixed for that series and disclosed at the series level; the approaches themselves are detailed in [Price Assessments](price-assessments.md).

!!!success
*For diammonium phosphate, "US — export spot price, FOB, US Gulf" and "SAM — import spot price, CFR, Brazil (netforward from FOB Saudi Arabia)" are two separate assessments of the same commodity: different locations, market sides, commercial bases, and, in the second case, a freight derivation from a reference benchmark.*
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## How many assessments can one commodity carry? {#how-many-assessments-can-one-commodity-carry}

There is no fixed rule. A commodity with a concentrated market may carry a single assessment in one region, while a widely traded commodity may carry several assessments within the same region or across several regions — whatever set of series best represents its international trade. The selection follows the location criteria described in [How are assessment locations selected?](industries-and-commodities-covered.md#how-are-assessment-locations-selected): key markets with reliable data.

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*Diammonium phosphate is covered through multiple assessments spanning several world regions — among them a United States export spot price (FOB, US Gulf), a South America import spot price (CFR, Brazil), and a Europe domestic spot price (DDP, United Kingdom).*
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The assessment catalog is the current reference for exactly which series exist for each commodity.

## At which geographic levels are assessments defined? {#at-which-geographic-levels-are-assessments-defined}

An assessment's location can sit at any level of the Intratec geographic hierarchy: an individual country (for example, the United States), a sub-region (South America), a region (Europe), or the global level, used where a single assessment represents a worldwide market. The hierarchy itself — four regions dividing into sub-regions, which group individual countries — is the same framework shared by every Intratec solution and is defined in [World Regions](../our-framework/world-regions.md).

The level chosen for each series reflects how its market actually trades: a price formed in one national market is assessed at country level, while a price that is effectively uniform across a broader area is assessed at sub-region, region, or global level. The catalog states the location of every series explicitly, always using the Intratec region, sub-region, and country nomenclature.

## What specification does an assessment reflect? {#what-specification-does-an-assessment-reflect}

Each assessment reflects the commodity's most typical specification and packaging in the market it measures. This is an outcome of the data homogeneity analysis: trade records are clustered so that a series tracks one consistent product rather than a blend of dissimilar grades, as described in [How is data homogeneity handled?](price-assessments.md#how-is-data-homogeneity-handled).

Where a commodity trades in several commercially distinct grades, each grade is assessed as its own series rather than averaged into one figure — the grade is, in effect, part of the series' identity. The assessment catalog states the specification each series reflects.

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*The diammonium phosphate assessments reflect fertilizer grade — 18% N / 46% P₂O₅ — the specification most typical of international DAP trade.*
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## In which units is each assessment published? {#in-which-units-is-each-assessment-published}

Each assessment is published in the currency and quantity unit most common in its market — the basis in which that market actually quotes and trades. Because market practice varies, the publication basis can differ between locations even for the same commodity; the series stays faithful to its market rather than forcing a single artificial basis across all of them.

Every series is also identified by a unique assessment code — the identifier that ties the same series together across price charts, the Excel Add-In, and the API. The assessment catalog lists each series' code, location, specification, and publication basis in one place.

[!button variant="secondary" target="blank" text="See a Full Commodity Sample (Diammonium Phosphate)"](https://www.intratec.us/solutions/primary-commodity-prices/commodity/diammonium-phosphate-prices)