Subscriber note: New daily assessments for US steam coal exports

Platts intends to launch on October 1, 2012, four daily thermal coal assessments on an FOB US export basis. The four assessments and their specifications are: Daily FOB US East Coast Thermal Coal Assessment: The assessment will reflect the commercial value of Eastern bituminous coals (mined east of the Mississippi River) sold in the spot market on an FOB basis US East Coast, loading 14-45 days forward from the date of publication. The specifications will be a standard calorific value of 6,500 kcal/kg on an NAR basis with total sulfur content of 1% as received and typical ash of 12% as received. Platts will consider as relevant to the assessment process coals in a range of 6,300-6,700 kcal/kg NAR, sulfur up to 3% and ash content up to 16%, and will normalize to the standard specification. Platts will consider cargoes loading at terminals from Baltimore, Maryland, to Hampton Roads, Virginia. For freight purposes, this assessment will be normalized to Hampton Roads. Daily FOB US Gulf Coast Eastern Thermal Coal Assessment: The assessment will reflect the commercial value of Eastern bituminous coals (mined east of the Mississippi River) sold in the spot market on an FOB basis US Gulf Coast, loading 14-45 days forward from the date of publication. The specifications will be a standard calorific value of 6,000 kcal/kg on an NAR basis with total sulfur content of 3% as received and typical ash of 12% as received. Platts will consider as relevant to the assessment process coals in a range of 5,800-6,200 kcal/kg NAR, sulfur up to 5% and ash content up to 16%, and will normalize to the standard specification. Platts will consider cargoes loading at terminals from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Mobile, Alabama. For freight purposes, this assessment will be normalized to New Orleans. Daily FOB US Gulf Coast Western Thermal Coal Assessment: The assessment will reflect the commercial value of Western sub-bituminous coals (mined west of the Mississippi River, primarily from the Powder River Basin) sold in the spot market on an FOB basis US Gulf Coast, loading 14-45 days forward from the date of publication. The specifications will be a standard calorific value of 5,000 kcal/kg on a GAR basis with total sulfur content of less than 0.5% as received, typical ash of 5.5% as received and typical total moisture of 27% as received. Platts will consider as relevant to the assessment process coals in a range of 4,800-5,200 kcal/kg GAR, sulfur up to 1%, ash content up to 10% and total moisture up to 30%, and will normalize to the standard specification. Platts will consider cargoes loading at terminals from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Houston, Texas. For freight purposes, this assessment will be normalized to Houston, Texas. Daily FOB Canada/US West Coast Thermal Coal Assessment: The assessment will reflect the commercial value of Western sub-bituminous coals (mined west of the Mississippi River, primarily from the Powder River Basin) sold in the spot market on an FOB basis Canada West Coast or US West Coast, loading 14-45 days forward from the date of publication. The specification will be a standard calorific value of 5,000 kcal/kg on a GAR basis with total sulfur content of less than 0.5% as received, typical ash of 5.5% as received and typical total moisture of 27% as received. Platts will consider as relevant to the assessment process coals in a range of 4,800-5,200 kcal/kg GAR, sulfur up to 1%, ash content up to 10% and total moisture up to 30%, and will normalize to the standard specification. Platts will consider cargoes loading at terminals from Ridley, British Columbia, to Los Angeles, California. For freight purposes, the assessment will be normalized to Vancouver, British Columbia. Timing, volume, and availability: The four new Platts thermal coal assessments will reflect the transactable value prevailing at 4 pm US Eastern Prevailing time. The assessment methodology reflects values on a market on close basis. Trading activity, including bids/offers and transactions, is covered during the typical operating day with data cut off for inclusion in the assessment precisely at 4 pm US Eastern Prevailing time. The assessments will be expressed in US dollars per metric ton ($/mt) to two decimal places. These assessments reflect cargoes of 75,000 mt. All shipment volumes, including standard or typical split and part-sized cargoes, are normalized to a typical Panamax type vessel of 75,000 mt. The assessments will reflect the price of coal loading FOB at the identified locations 14-45 days forward from the date of publication. For instance, on June 1, Platts will assess cargoes for loading between June 14 and July 15. The assessments reflect the midpoint of the loading period. Cargoes traded with more prompt or further forward laycans are normalized to the middle of the month for assessment purposes. The assessments will be published daily in Platts Coal Trader and Coal Trader International, on Platts Electricity Alert and Platts European Power Alert, and via Platts Market Data. Please submit comments or questions to Mike Wilczek at mike_wilczek@platts.com with a cc to pricegroup@platts.com.