• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

EEX Launches First International Coal Futures Contract Based on Argus McCloskey Indexes

Posted on: Friday, 28 April 2006, 09:01 CDT

LEIPZIG, LONDON and SYDNEY, Australia, April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Energy Exchange AG (EEX) will be the first European exchange to list financially settled coal futures and offer clearing services for contracts traded off exchange in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets from 2nd May 2006.

Trade in international physical steam coal is expected to exceed 500 million tonnes this year and swaps business will top 750 million tonnes, equating to a total value of more than $80 billion. The new products offered by EEX will help participants in the coal market solve an urgent problem caused by the rapid growth in volumes. Coal traders' bilateral credit lines are becoming exhausted and exchange traded futures will enable them to eliminate counterparty risk. Clearing allows flexibility in trading as well as security in the settlement of transactions.

EEX coal futures will be settled against the API 2 (Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Antwerp) and API 4 (Richards Bay, South Africa) indexes as published in Argus/McCloskey's Coal Price Index Report. The indexes are calculated using assessments from Argus, Barlow Jonker and McCloskey. The coal contracts are quoted and cleared in US dollars, the first time that non Euro denominated trading and clearing have taken place at EEX.

"The widening of EEX's product range to include coal is a natural extension of our business and enables market participants to enter the energy value chain at an earlier stage," said Dr. Hans-Bernd Menzel, CEO of EEX.

Adrian Binks, CEO of Argus said, "We wish the EEX well with their launch of coal futures and are pleased that they have decided to use the standard industry benchmark as a settlement price."

Gerard McCloskey, Chairman of the McCloskey Coal Group said, "Coal is immense with a vast reserve and very very competitive price levels. Advances in technology are smacking down on the pollution that coal has caused in the past. What the industry has needed is sophisticated market implements to match all this. The agreement we have reached with EEX takes a huge stride over this threshold. It is overdue and extremely welcome."

Notes to editors

The API 2 prices and indexes are based on Argus and McCloskey assessments for coal delivered into the Amsterdam/Rotterdam/Antwerp region.

The API 4 prices and indexes are based on assessments from Argus, McCloskey and Barlow Jonker's South African Coal Report for coal traded out of Richards Bay, South Africa.

About Argus Media Group

Argus is the world's leading independent energy publishing company with over thirty five years of experience in energy market reporting. It uses a precise and transparent methodology to assess prices and analyse markets in the coal, oil, electricity, natural gas, LPG, LNG, emissions, freight and transportation sectors.

Contact: Seana Lanigan, seana.lanigan@argusmediagroup.com , tel: +44(0)20 7780 4272 http://www.argusmediagroup.com/

About Barlow Jonker Pty Ltd

For over twenty years Barlow Jonker has offered consulting services to the energy industries. Comprehensive coal information services are provided through http://www.coalportal.com/ . Barlow Jonker's special area of consultancy is market and supply economics in the international coal industry, covering the coal chain from resource evaluation through coal mining and coal consumption to long-term price and demand/supply forecasting. Strategic and independent advice is supplied on a regular basis, at board and senior management level, to the main coal producing and consuming companies worldwide.

Contact: info@barlowjonker.com , tel: +61 (0)2 92218977 http://www.coalportal.com/

About EEX

European Exchange AG currently operates a Spot and a Derivatives Market for energy and CO2 emission allowances. With currently 138 trading participants from 17 countries, it is the energy exchange in continental Europe with the largest number of trading participants and the biggest turnover. The range of services provided by EEX is complemented by related services such as the integrated clearing of exchange transactions and over- the-counter transactions (OTC clearing).

Contact: Fritz Wilhelm, fritz.wilhelm@eex.de , tel: +49(0)341 2156-203 http://www.eex.de/

About The McCloskey Group

The McCloskey Group publishes seven specialist publications on coal. In addition, it publishes information on electricity and very recently on the chemical industry. It also hosts over a dozen conferences around the world, mainly on the international coal industry but also on electricity, gas and petroleum coke. In addition it has a long-established respected consultancy covering all aspects of the coal markets.

Contact: Gerard McCloskey gerard@mccloskeycoal.com , tel: +44(0)1730 265095 http://www.mccloskeycoal.com/

Argus Media

CONTACT: Seana Lanigan of Argus Media, +44-0-20-7780-4272, orseana.lanigan@argusmediagroup.com ; or Barlow Jonker Pty Ltd,+61-0-2-92218977, or info@barlowjonker.com ; or Fritz Wilhelm of EuropeanEnergy Exchange AG, +49-0-341-2156-203, or fritz.wilhelm@eex.de ; or GerardMcCloskey of McCloskey Group, +44-0-1730-265095, or gerard@mccloskeycoal.com

Web site: http://www.argusmediagroup.com/http://www.coalportal.com/http://www.eex.de/http://www.mccloskeycoal.com/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category