Names of US coal assessments, effective December 20

After a two-week period of industry feedback, Platts will change the names of its North American Platts Daily OTC coal assessments published in Coal Trader effective December 20, 2010. The underlying specifications and methodology will remain unchanged.

The Platts Daily OTC assessment currently named "NYMEX 12,000/1%" will be renamed "CAPP barge OTC," and the assessment currently named "CSX 12,500/1%" will be renamed "CAPP rail (CSX) OTC." The assessments named "PRB 8,800/0.35%" and "PRB 8,400/0.35%" will be renamed "PRB 8,800 OTC" and "PRB 8,400 OTC."

The names are being changed to reflect Platts' general practice of naming assessments of well-known, commonly traded, standardized products to reflect delivery locations. In these cases, the assessments that will be renamed are the four commonly traded, standardized products in the daily OTC coal trading market. All underlying specifications and methodology, including Btu per pound and sulfur content, will remain unchanged and will continue to match the specifications of the Coal Trading Association, and of the CME Group for its futures and swaps contracts based on the standardized OTC products.

The specifications for all Platts coal assessments, including the four daily OTC assessments Platts will rename, can be found in the Platts Coal Methodology and Specifications Guide at platts.com.

The Platts Daily OTC Assessments are published in Platts Coal Trader and on Platts Electricity Alert page 160 and are available via Platts Dispatch services under Dispatch category CO.

Platts Daily OTC Assessments are separate and distinct from the OTC Broker Index, which comprises assessments formulated from broker data that are published in Coal Trader. Names of products for the OTC Broker Index will not be changed.

At the same time, Platts will change, effective December 20, the names of the four North American, OTC Hedge Price Monitor, Central Appalachia and Powder River Basin coal assessments published in Coal Outlook. The underlying specifications and methodology will remain unchanged. The assessment prices in the OTC Hedge Price Monitor are a five-day average of the Platts Daily OTC Assessments published in Coal Trader. The assessment named "NYMEX/Barge" will be renamed "CAPP barge OTC"; the assessment named "CSX Big Sandy/Kanawha" will be renamed "CAPP rail (CSX) OTC"; and the two Powder River Basin assessments named "Wyoming/Rail" will be renamed "PRB 8,800 OTC" and "PRB 8,400 OTC."

Platts also will change the names of two North American, Weekly Price Survey, Central Appalachia coal assessments published in Coal Outlook. The underlying specifications and methodology will remain unchanged. Platts Weekly Price Survey assessments are for the traditional spot market for delivered physical coal, which differs from the daily OTC trading market in that standardized OTC contracts, which can be held to go to delivery, can also be offset and therefore represent financial positions that never go to physical delivery.

The assessment currently named "NYMEX look-alike" will be renamed "CAPP barge physical." The assessment currently named "Big Sandy/Kanawha" with specifications listed in the table of 12,500 Btu/lb, 1.5 SO2 lb, and CSX Transport Mode will be renamed "CAPP rail (CSX) physical."

The assessments published in Coal Outlook are also available via Platts Dispatch services under Dispatch category CO.

At the same time, Platts will change the names of three North American, Coal Trader Spark Spreads coal assessments published in Coal Trader. The spark spread named "NYMEX" will be renamed "CAPP barge OTC spark," the spark spread named "CSX 1%" will be renamed "CAPP rail (CSX) OTC spark," and the spark spread named "PRB 8800" will be renamed "PRB 8800 OTC spark."

After the new names take effect, footnotes in tables in the publications will include the assessments' former names for a transition period.

For additional information, please contact Brian Jordan at brian_jordan@platts.com, with a cc to coal@platts.com and pricegroup@platts.com.