Platts launches premium mid-vol hard coking coal CFR India assessment

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, has launched a daily Premium Mid Vol Hard Coking Coal CFR India price assessment, effective Oct. 1.

The assessment reflects a maturing secondary market, where a half- or full-sized Panamax shipment is broken into smaller parcel sizes for resale in the India metallurgical coal spot market.

The addition of an India-focused assessment for PMV coals reflects evolving buying patterns and increasingly diverse origins of hard coking coal cargoes imported by India, following the country's emergence as the largest importer of coking coal.

The assessment has a volume specification of between 10,000 mt and 25,000 mt, reflecting the bulk of spot activity taking place on a CFR India basis.

The smaller volume specification relative to Platts other premium hard coking coal seaborne assessments considers market feedback that India-import trade discussions for cargoes 30,000 mt and above for both spot and term contracts, including Australian and non-Australian origins, are predominantly discussed on an FOB Australia basis.

Discussions on an outright CFR India basis are typically observed for smaller parcel sizes for resale.

The PMV HCC CFR India assessment has the following specifications:

Platts spot price assessments consider market information reported to Platts and published throughout the day, including firm bids and offers, transactions and indications, as well as any other data deemed relevant to the assessment process. Market information received before the 5:30 pm Singapore (0930 GMT) timestamp is considered for the daily PMV HCC CFR India assessment. The assessment follows the Singapore publishing schedule.

Platts may consider and normalize information reported surrounding cargoes differing in quality, volume, timing, basis location and payment terms to the specifications stated above using price differentials prevailing in the spot market.

This include information on premium low-vol hard coking coals. While Indian buyers have traditionally not bought PLV coals in large volumes due to the type of technology installed at most coke ovens, consumption may increase as end-users consider greater diversity in their coal blends.

The assessment considers cargoes of all origins, and Platts may normalize for premiums and discounts that may arise from duty rates applicable to cargoes of different origins.

A full description of Platts price assessment methodology can be found here:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/plattscontent/_assets/_files/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/platts-assessments-methodology-guide.pdf

Platts continues to invite submissions of high-quality data relevant to the India spot market for publication to test representativeness of market information for various coal types. High-quality data typically include details such as counterparty, product quality, specifications, order sizes, dimensions, lead times and locational information.

The new assessment is in addition to Platts existing CFR India assessments for PLV and low-vol hard coking coal, which reflect a calculated freight net forward basis to the corresponding FOB Australia assessments.

Platts first opened a consultation to invite feedback on its CFR India coking coal price assessments in a subscriber note published March 15:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/031524-platts-opens-consultation-on-cfr-india-coking-coal-price-assessments

The consultation period was extended to May 17 to capture more feedback:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/042324-platts-extends-consultation-period-on-cfr-india-coking-coal-price-assessments

Platts proposed to launch the PMV CFR India assessment Aug. 5, via a subscriber note available here:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/080524-platts-proposes-to-launch-premium-mid-vol-hard-coking-coal-cfr-india-assessment

Following market feedback, Platts communicated its decision to proceed with the proposed launch on Sept. 3:

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/our-methodology/subscriber-notes/090324-platts-to-launch-premium-mid-vol-hard-coking-coal-cfr-india-assessment

The daily assessment and its associated monthly average are published in Platts SBB Steel Markets Daily, Platts Steel Alert on page 0205 and in the Platts price database under the symbols listed above.

Please send comments and questions to pl_cokingcoal@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com

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