Energy information provider Platts has announced that, effective 1 September, it is expanding its suite of thermal coal (ie coal used to generate electricity) price assessments to include a daily spot value for thermal coal destined for the Indian marketplace.
The new price assessments, which include freight rates from South Africa to India’s east and west coasts, address the needs of power producers, cement manufacturers, coal traders and ship brokers for an independent source of India-related open-market spot prices.
“India’s thermal coal imports have taken the global industry by storm, changing trade flows radically and thereby increasing the need for expanded and more frequent price information,” said James O’Connell, managing editor of Platts’ Coal Trader International. “We’re pleased to help meet the growing information needs of this important import market and bring greater transparency to the commodity’s and region’s pricing.”
India is the third-largest producer of hard coal, but it is also one of the world’s largest importers. South Africa ranks among the world’s top 10 producers and top 10 exporters of coal. Platts’ new assessments capture price dynamics relating to these important marketplaces.
The assessments will reflect the open-market physical spot value for standard calorific value of 6300 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg), gross as received (GAR), thermal coal with a maximum ash content of 16% and 1.4% maximum sulphur content. They will be assessed on a cost and freight (CFR) basis delivered to specific ports on the east and west coasts of India.
Assessments are based on all-day market monitoring and data collection of transactions, bids, offers and other information from market participants and reflect values at the close of the physical trading day at 17:00 (5:00 p.m.) London time. Thermal coal deliveries from other destinations meeting the specifications may also be taken into account for the assessment. All prices are quoted as U.S. dollars per metric ton (mt). The assessments will be published in Platts’ Coal Trader International, within Platts’ Dispatch, a flexible-format, end-of-day data service, as well as in the real-time news service Platts’ European Power Alert.
