Platts updates US coking coal specifications, measures sulphur and ash penalty/premia on dry basis

S&P Global Platts has updated US coking coal assessment specifications and started expressing US Low-Vol penalty/premia for sulfur and ash on a dry basis, effective April 1, 2020.

The changes have aligned the specifications with standard trading practice in the US domestic and export coal markets, removing basis risk, and follows market feedback.

The assessments now reflect the following specifications on a dry basis:

Volatile Matter (dry basis) Ash (db) Sulfur (db) Moisture Dilatation MMR Fluidity (ddpm) CSR

High Vol A Coking Coal FOB USEC 32.25% 7.50% 0.95% 8% 220% 1.05 30,000

High Vol B Coking Coal FOB USEC 36.00% 8.00% 1.00% 8% 160% 0.95 25,000

Low Vol Hard Coking Coal FOB USEC 19.25% 8.25% 0.95% 8% 58

The US met coal assessments are published on the page 4 of the Steel Markets Daily publication, page 8 of Coal Trader International publication, and page 4 of Coal Trader publication.

These assessments also appear on the real-time Metals alert pages 1049 and in the Platts database under the following codes:

Description Daily Code Monthly Average

High Vol A Coking Coal FOB USEC AAWWS00 AAWWS03

High Vol B Coking Coal FOB USEC AAWWT00 AAWWT03

Low Vol Hard Coking Coal FOB USEC AAWWR00 AAWWR03

Sulfur per 0.1% as % US LV FOB USEC CPPBE00

Sulfur per 0.1% US LV FOB USEC $/mt CPPBF00 CPPBF03

Sulfur per 0.1% as % US LV FOB USEC CPPBG00

Sulfur per 0.1% US LV FOB USEC $/Mt CPPBH00 CPPBH03

Ash per 1% as % US LV FOB USEC CPPBI00

Ash per 1% US LV FOB USEC $/mt CPPBJ00 CPPBJ03

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