Argus launches daily price assessments for swaps settled against the API 8™ benchmark

SINGAPORE, June 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Global energy and commodity price reporting agency Argus has introduced new daily price assessments for swaps settled against the Argus/IHS McCloskey API 8 index for 5,500 kcal/kg thermal coal delivered cfr south China.

Cleared volumes of derivatives settled against the API 8 coal benchmark rose above 12mn t in 2013, the first full year of cleared trade. More than 2mn t traded in both November and December, and a monthly record of 2.79mn t was achieved in March this year. Liquidity is likely to continue to increase as even more of the market opts for the API 8 price as the most appropriate basis for Asia-Pacific coal derivatives, especially with Hong Kong-based exchange HKEx due to join US exchanges CME, and Ice and Singapore's SGX in offering clearing later this year.

China's position as the world's biggest coal importer underpins the market for derivatives settled against the API 8 price. The country's thermal coal imports rose by 6pc to a record 208mn t in 2013. Imports of bituminous coal with a calorific value of 5,000-6,000 kcal/kg have been growing more strongly compared with other grades, increasing by 12pc to 109mn t in 2013, with imports of this grade from Australia rising by 32pc to 51.3mn t and Indonesian exports to China increasing by 16.4pc to 39mn t.

By providing greater visibility on price trends, the daily assessment of prices for swaps settled against the API 8 benchmark aims to assist Chinese utilities, trading firms and coal producers in their hedging and price risk management strategies.

"Argus has been providing reliable coal price information for the Asia-Pacific coal market for many years. We are pleased to offer subscribers greater transparency in Asia-Pacific's fastest growing coal derivative markets," Argus chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said.

The new assessments are published daily in Argus Coal Daily International, a global report that covers over 100 coal prices in key markets, subscribed to by almost 300 companies in 50 countries around the world.

Media contacts:

Singapore
Jim Nicholson
+65 6496 9960
[email protected]

London
Seana Lanigan
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Houston
Gabriela Alcocer
+ 1 713 968 0000
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About Argus Media
Argus is an independent media organisation with over 600 full time staff. It is headquartered in London and has offices in each of the world's principal commodity centres. Its main activities comprise publishing market reports containing price assessments, market commentary and news, and business intelligence reports that analyse market and industry trends.

More than half of Argus employees are commodity journalists who specialise in reporting news and price information relating to physical energy and related commodity markets. They operate according to a rigorous Editorial Code of Conduct and a compliance and ethics policy that align with best journalistic practice, including the avoidance of conflicts of interest.

Argus is a leading provider of data on prices and fundamentals, news, analysis, consultancy services and conferences for the global crude, oil products, natural gas, electricity, coal, emissions, bioenergy, fertilizer, petrochemical, metals and transportation industries. Data provided by Argus are widely used for indexation of physical trade. Companies, governments and international agencies use Argus information for analysis and planning purposes.

Argus has 19 offices globally, including London, Houston, Washington, New York, Calgary, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Dubai, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, Moscow, Astana and other key centres of the commodity industries. Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company.

ARGUS, ARGUS MEDIA, the ARGUS logo, DEWITT, FMB, FUNDALYTICS, METAL-PAGES, JIM JORDAN & ASSOCIATES, JJ&A, ARGUS publication titles and ARGUS index names are trademarks of Argus Media Limited.The API 8 index name is a trademark of Argus Media Limited and IHS Global Limited.

SOURCE Argus Media