55 East 52nd Street

39th Floor

New York, New York 10055

BY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

Submission No. 22-03

October 12, 2022

Secretary of the Commission

Office of the Secretariat

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21

st Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20581

Re: Listing of Commodity Swaps and Related Rule Amendments- Submission Pursuant to

Section 5c(c)(1) of the Act and Regulations 40.2(a) and 40.6(a)

Dear Ms. Jurgens:

Pursuant to Section 5c(c)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act, as amended (the “CEA”) and the 

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission”) Regulations 40.2(a) and 40.6(a), ICE Swap 

Trade, LLC (“IST” or “SEF”) submits by written certification the terms and conditions for one new cashsettled contract (the “Energy Contract”). The Energy Contract will be listed as a permitted contract for

trading on October 14, 2022 (based on an acknowledged filing date of October 12, 2022). The Energy 

Contract is a monthly cash-settled swap.

The contract terms and conditions are set forth in Chapter 13 of the ICE Swap Trade 

Rulebook (“Rules”) and in related amendments to existing Rules, as specified in Exhibit A. The 

underlying cash market analysis for the new Energy Contract is contained in Exhibit B. A copy of the 

revised Rulebook marked to show changes against the Rulebook submitted to the Commission with an 

effective date of October 14, 2022, is attached as Exhibit C, and a clean copy of the revised Rulebook is 

attached as Exhibit D. The SEF is listing the Energy Contracts as noted in the table below:

Rule Code Contract Name

13148 PCA Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China

Certifications

IST certifies that the rules and amendments related to the listing of the Energy Contracts comply with the 

requirements of the CEA and the rules and regulations promulgated by the Commission thereunder. IST

has reviewed the Core Principles and has determined that the listing of the Energy Contracts impacts the

following relevant Core Principles:

COMPLIANCE WITH RULES (Principle 2): The terms and conditions of the Energy Contracts are

set forth in Chapter 13 of the Rules, which will be enforced by IST. Trading of the Energy Contracts

is subject to all relevant IST rules which are enforced by the Market Regulation Department. 
SWAPS NOT READILY SUSCEPTIBLE TO MANIPULATION (Principle 3): In accordance with the 

guidelines set forth in Appendix C to Part 38 of the CEA, the Energy Contract should not be readily 

subject to manipulation as it is based on a liquid cash market and widely accepted benchmark as 

demonstrated in the analysis included in Exhibit C. The contract size, listing cycle, quotation basis, 

final settlement and minimum price fluctuation for the Energy Contracts are common amongst related 

contracts listed by other SEFs and DCMs. In addition, the Energy Contracts will be subject to market 

surveillance by IST Market Regulation staff to detect attempted manipulation.

Platts, the administrator of the referenced indices, has established comprehensive rules governing 

assessment prices and price reporting structures that is publicly available, transparent, and widely 

accepted and understood by market participants. The prices included in all of Platts’ indices are 

subjected to a rigorous series of quality control processes. Platts publishes benchmark price 

assessments for liquefied natural gas markets and its price reporting is well known in the industry as 

fair and accurate. The liquefied natural gas indexes Platts publishes are based on original reporting 

that is collected by Platts from actual buyers and sellers. Platts also employs a comprehensive 

compliance review of submissions and its methodologies to ensure the published prices accurately 

reflect physical deals. Platts’ rules, index descriptions and pricing methodology for liquefied natural 

gas is publicly available on its website1. 

MONITOR OF TRADING AND TRADE PROCESSING (Principle 4): All contracts listed for trading by 

IST are subject to prohibitions against abusive trading practices as set forth in Chapter 5 of the IST 

Rulebook. The Market Regulation staff actively monitors all IST markets to detect abusive practices.

ABILITY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION (Principle 5): IST has rules and procedures in place that allow 

for the collection of non-routine data from Participants and Customers. In addition, IST has 

agreements in place with other regulatory, data repository and reporting services. 

TIMELY PUBLICATION OF TRADING INFORMATION (Principle 9): IST will publish on its website 

and distribute through quote vendors contract trading volume, open interest levels, and daily price 

information in accordance with Part 16. IST will also adhere to the reporting requirements as detailed 

in Part 43 and 452 of the Commission’s Rules. Prior to the commencement of trading, the terms and 

conditions for the Energy Contracts will be available on IST’s website. In addition, IST will publish on 

a daily basis the settlement prices, volume, open interest and the opening and closing ranges for 

actively traded contracts.

RECORDKEEPING AND REPORTING (Principle 10): IST has rules and procedures in place to 

require Participants and Customers to maintain records of their trading and provide for the recording 

and storage of the requisite trade information sufficient for the Market Regulation Department to detect 

and prosecute customer and market abuses.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES (Principle 13): Pursuant to Chapters 8 of the IST Rulebook, the 

Market Regulation Department has the authority to sanction, suspend or expel members and market 

participants that violate SEF rules.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION (Principle 14): Participants may arbitrate claims arising from trading of IST’s 

contracts in accordance with Chapter 9 of the IST Rulebook. Such arbitration is mandatory for claims 

1 https://www.spglobal.com/platts/plattscontent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodologyspecifications/lngmethodology.pdf

2 17 CFR Part 43 Real-Time Public Reporting of Swap Transaction Data and 17 CFR Part 45 Swap Data 

Recordkeeping and Reporting Requirements.
by customers against SEF Participants and for claims by SEF Participants against each other. NonParticipants with claims arising from trading of IST’s contracts may also opt for SEF arbitration.

IST not aware of any substantive opposing views expressed with respect to the rules and the 

amendments. IST further certifies that concurrent with this filing, a copy of this submission was posted on 

its website, which may be accessed at: (https://www.theice.com/swap-trade/regulation).

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact the undersigned at (913) 

323-8500 or Robert.Laorno@theice.com.

Sincerely,

Robert J. Laorno

Chief Compliance Officer

cc: Division of Market Oversight
Exhibit A

Rule 13148. Reserved Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China

Contract Description: A monthly cash settled swap based on the Platts daily assessment price 

for Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China.

Contract Symbol: PCA

Contract Size: 100 metric tonnes

Unit of Trading: Any multiple of 100 metric tonnes

Currency: US Dollars and cents

Trading Price Quotation: One tenth of cent ($0.001) per metric tonne

Last Trading Day: Trading shall cease on the 15th calendar day of the calendar month prior to 

the contract month. If the 15th calendar day is not a business day, then trading shall cease on 

the next preceding business day.

Final Settlement Price: In respect of final settlement, the Floating Price will be a price in USD 

and cents per metric tonne based on the average of the mean of the high and low quotations 

appearing in the “Platts Asian Petrochemicalscan” weekly report under the heading “Aromatics 

($/mt)” subheading “CFR Taiwan” for “PX” for each business day (as specified below) in the 

determination period.

Contract Series: Up to 2 consecutive monthly contracts, or as otherwise determined by the 

Exchange. 

Final Payment Dates: Fourteen (14) Calendar Days after each settlement date via wire transfer 

or Federal funds

Business Days: Publication days for Platts Asian Petrochemicalscan

Other Terms: To be confirmed directly between the parties in their full form of contract. The 

terms reflected in such contracts shall be controlling.
EXHIBIT B

I. Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China

Platts is the leading benchmark provider in the Asian physical paraxylene market of which its paraxylene CFR 

Taiwan/China assessment is used as a pricing basis for spot and long-term contracts across Asia and other 

regions. 

Platts’ PX CFR Taiwan/China marker is widely accepted as the primary spot assessment and is referenced in 

Asia and other regions. Platts’ unique transparent Market on Close process sees buyers, sellers, traders and 

producers submit price information via the eWindow communication tool in order to transact PX spot cargoes of 

5,000 metric tons (‘MT’).

PX term contracts in Asia are based on a formula that uses the Platts CFR Taiwan/China marker, along with 

smaller contributing factors such as the Asian Contract Price or ACP, which is negotiated on a monthly basis by 

market participants.

II. Underlying Cash Market For Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China

The Platts Market on Close Assessment process (MOC) is the tool used by Platts to determine and assess the 

physical market. The Methodology and Specifications Guide for crude oil assessments is contained here: 

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/plattscontent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodologyspecifications/lngmethodology.pdf

III. Cash Market Analysis for Paraxylene CFR Taiwan/China

China is the biggest buyer of PX globally, importing roughly 27 million mt in 2020 through 2021. In the last 3 

years, China's domestic PX and PTA capacity has grown rapidly, with domestic PX capacity around 33 million 

mt/year rising to roughly 83 million mt a year by Q3, 2022. By the end of 2022, a total of 5.6 million mt/year of

increased volume is slated to enter the market.

From 2019 through 2020, there were 22 active market participants in the Platts PX Market on Close process and 

269 physical cargoes (1.345 million mt) were traded in 2020. In 2022, the PX MOC has gained increased

importance and has added participants. A total of 235 physical cargoes, or 1.175 million mt, have been traded 

year to date in 2022. Asian exchange PX contracts settled against Platts’ PX CFR Taiwan/China daily spot 

assessment and the traded volumes have increased exponentially. The increasing activity directly correlates to

the physical price represented by the Platts PX CFR Taiwan/China marker. From the initial offering in 2019 to 

2020, volume increased by 62% on the year to 5.81 million mt in 2020. Traded volumes followed this trend in

2021-22. In 2021, the PX derivatives volume reached 6.86 million mt, up 18% on the year. Additionally, year to 

date in 2022, the volume has increased another 2.9 million mt.