NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting changing trends in the marketplace, Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider, today announced the launch of a new daily price assessment that will help address the need for a global benchmark for lower-calorific thermal coal produced and consumed in the Asia-Pacific region.

The new assessment complements Platts existing suite of more than a dozen daily and weekly thermal coal assessments for Asia and other regions.

"We've seen a radical shift in the physical coal market in Asia over the past several years, away from traditional higher-calorific thermal coals towards more competitively priced lower-calorific coals, with high demand coming from Korea, Taiwan and particularly China, the world's largest coal producer turned coal importer," said James O'Connell, managing editor, Platts International Coal Report.

The new assessment, Platts FOB Newcastle 5500 NAR, reflects thermal coal with an energy-producing caloric value of 5500 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg) and delivered seven- to 45 days forward from Newcastle, Australia on a free-on-board (FOB), net-as-received (NAR) basis.

The long-time industry standard has been a higher-calorific coal: FOB Newcastle 6000 kcal/kg NAR quality coal which has suffered a major drop in liquidity over the last 12 months.

Aimed at thermal coal producers, power producers, cement manufacturers, coal traders and ship brokers, the Platts FOB Newcastle 5500 NAR reflects transactions, bids and offers as determined between buyers and sellers in the open spot market.

"It's our hope the price transparency provided by Platts for this vital power input will meet not only the region's immediate need for a low-calorific coal reference, but the global industry's need for comparative valuations of other coals," said O'Connell.

Platts will continue to publish price assessments for the traditional higher-calorific coals, including two daily price assessments for FOB Newcastle 6300 kcal/kg Gross as Received: a 90-day forward assessment and a prompt months assessment.

The new daily Platts FOB Newcastle 5500 NAR assessment will be published in Coal Trader International, as well as other Platts publications and services.

Platts' price assessment methodologies for coal have been developed in consultation with a cross section of key industry players and draw upon Platts' century of experience in benchmark price reporting in the energy markets.

To learn more about Platts' price assessment process and other available Platts products and services, visit www.platts.com. For information on Platts experts available for media interviews, visit the Platts Media Center.

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, and shipping markets. A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), Platts is headquartered in New York with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2010, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

SOURCE Platts

SOURCE: Platts