New monthly averages for US coal

In the North American coal sector, Platts is now publishing final monthly averages of its Platts Daily OTC Assessments. The final monthly prompt-month averages will be published for the four standard OTC coal products included in Platts Daily OTC Assessments: CAPP barge OTC, CAPP rail (CSX) OTC, PRB 8,800 OTC, and PRB 8,400 OTC.

The monthly averages are available through Platts Market Data (formerly Dispatch) under category CO beginning December 23. They will also be published in Platts Coal Trader beginning with the December 27 issue, in a new table, Platts Final Monthly Averages, which will appear in the right-hand column on page 1 below the Platts Daily OTC Assessments.

The final monthly prompt-month averages will be available through Platts Market Data each month on the last trading day for the prompt month. The Platts Final Monthly Averages table will be published in Coal Trader on the first business day following the last trading day for the prompt month.

The final prompt-month average for each of the four standard OTC products Platts assesses is the average of the Platts Daily OTC Assessments for the trading days for which the month was the prompt month.

Per the Platts Methodology and Specifications Guide for Coal, the last day of trading for the prompt month is the 25th of the month (in the case of holidays and weekends, the last day of trading is the last business day preceding the 25th). The first trading day of the prompt month is the 26th of the month, (in the case of holidays and weekends, the first trading day is the first business day after the 26th.)

The specifications for all Platts coal assessments, including the Platts Daily OTC Assessments Platts, can be found in the Platts Coal Methodology and Specifications Guide at www.platts.com.

For Platts Market Data customers, the codes and code descriptions for the final monthly averages are as follows:

CTNOM01 Stm C App 12000B 1.67lbS Brg FOB Mo01 OTC MAvg

CAKOM01 Stm C App Big Sandy/Kanawha 12500B 1.5lbS Rail CSX FOB Mo01 OTC MAvg

CTBOM01 Stm PRB WY 8400B 0.8lbS Rail FOB Mo01 OTC MAvg

CTAOM01 Stm PRB WY 8800B 0.8lbS Rail FOB Mo01 OTC MAvg

The history of the monthly averages will be available through Platts Market Data by the end of first-quarter 2011.

Platts Daily OTC Assessments are separate and distinct from the OTC Broker Index values, which comprise assessments formulated from broker data that are published in Coal Trader. The final averages for the OTC Broker Index will continue to be published in the table on the bottom of page 1 of Coal Trader on the second business day following the last trading day for the prompt month.

For questions, please contact Brian Jordan at 202-383-2181 or brian_jordan@platts.com.