Platts launches Generic No Avoided Deforestation ACCU forward price assessments

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has launched forward price assessments for Generic No Avoided Deforestation (Generic No AD) Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for the front six-month contracts, effective May 5.

This follows a proposal note(opens in a new tab) published March 24 and a decision note(opens in a new tab) published April 7.

ACCUs are issued by Australia's Clean Energy Regulator to carbon project developers based on legislated methodologies. They are used to offset emissions by liable entities under Australia's Safeguard Mechanism scheme and can also be used to offset additional emissions on a voluntary basis.

Each ACCU represents one ton of CO2 equivalent.

The assessments are intended to provide more transparency to the increasing activity in the ACCU forwards market, particularly for the Generic No AD method. The No AD category represents Generic Australian carbon credits without the avoided deforestation method.

Currently, Platts publishes a daily price differential for the No AD category with the symbol ACGAD00.

The new daily Generic No AD ACCU forward assessments reflect the forward value of credits for the front six months.

The specifications for the assessments are as follows:

• Minimum volume: 1,000 mt/CO2e
• Maximum volume: 100,000 mt/CO2e
• Currency: Australian dollars
• Contract month roll: The 15th of the consequent month or the last working day before the 15th if it is a non-business day. For instance, the assessment from Feb. 14 to March 13 for the front-month No AD contract would reflect the forward value in March, and so on.
• Frequency: Daily
• Time stamp: 16:30 Melbourne/Sydney/Canberra time
• Platts publishing calendar: Asia-Pacific carbon calendar

Platts will consider all bids, offers, trades and indications received in both the over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange markets for assessment purposes.

The new assessments are as follows:

These assessments are found in Carbon Markets Daily and in the fixed pages ETA2017 and CMA2017.

Details about the methodology for Platts Carbon assessments can be found here(opens in a new tab).

Please send all comments, feedback and questions to platts_carbon@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if they are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make those not marked as confidential available upon request.