Daily 90-day forward assessments; proposal to discontinue Platts CIMs

Following consultation with the industry, Platts has decided to increase the frequency of the following 90-day forward physical thermal coal assessments from weekly to daily as of July 26, 2010: CIF ARA, FOB Richards Bay, FOB Newcastle, FOB Kalimantan 1 (5,900 kcal/kg) and FOB Kalimantan 2 (5,000 kcal/kg).

The introduction of daily assessments for these five key coal markets reflects the increasing liquidity in the physical thermal coal market and is designed to capture inter-day volatility in the market.

All of the above assessments will be published every UK business day in Platts Coal Trader International.

The assessments will be based on the existing methodology, reflecting the price of coal to be delivered (CIF) or loaded (FOB) within the next 90-day period. The daily assessments will be derived from firm trades, bids and offers prevailing at market close at 5:00 pm London time.

Platts will continue to assess the remaining 90-day forward assessments on a weekly basis and will review the suitability of increasing the frequency on an ongoing basis.

Please send your feedback and comments to coal@platts.com or call James O?Connell on +44 (0)20 7176 6661.

As the industry is moving from weekly to daily pricing, Platts is also proposing to discontinue the Platts Coal Industry Markers (CIMs) over a three-month period effective October 11, 2010.

Platts launched the weekly CIMs in January 2005 on a CIF ARA basis, and on an FOB basis for Richards Bay coal terminal, South Africa, Newcastle, Australia and Kalimantan (5,900 kcal/kg and 5,000 kcal/kg).

Platts believes that the need for daily pricing is now superseding the relevance of the CIMs.

Please send your feedback and comments by August 6, 2010, to coal@platts.com or call James O?Connell on +44 (0)20 7176 6661.