(EnergyAsia, August 15, Friday) — Another two major coal companies have signed up to join globalCOAL’s electronic trading platform as market members.

China’s Shenhua Coal Trading Company and France’s Total Gas & Power signed up with the London-headquartered platform this month.

Beijing-headquartered Shenhua Coal Trading Company is the wholly-owned coal trading arm of Shenhua Group. It owns the exclusive trading rights to Shenhua’s coal production in both the domestic and international market, and is one of the country’s top exporters.

Shenhua Group, China’s largest coal company, produced 235 million tonnes last year, up 15.8% from 2006.

Patrick Markey, globalCOAL’s Singapore-based manager, said: “In its leading position as the largest coal producer in China, Shenhua brings a critical Chinese presence to the globalCOAL market membership. We hope this will pave the way for further Chinese involvement in commoditised coal trading activity.”

Eoghan Cunningham, globalCOAL’s CEO, said: “We look forward to seeing Total Gas & Power take an active role on the platform. As a significant player in the energy business, Total Gas & Power will no doubt benefit from the enhanced flexibility and efficiency of trading through globalCOAL’s Standard Coal System.”

globalCOAL was founded by the industry’s leading members to promote screen trading of standardised coal products. The company has developed the world’s leading electronic marketplace for thermal coal as well as a range of standardised coal quality specifications, a Standard Coal Trading Agreement (SCoTA®), and robust methodology for coal price index calculation.

globalCOAL said it will soon be launching two new coal futures contracts in cooperation with leading energy exchange ICE Futures Europe.