(EnergyAsia, January 12 2012, Thursday) — Two fo the world’s leading energy pricing services have launched new assessments for the coal trade in Asia.

McGraw Hill’s Platts said it has launched a daily price assessment to help address the need for a global benchmark for lower-calorific thermal coal produced and consumed in the Asia-Pacific region.

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

The long-time industry standard has been for a higher-calorific coal, the 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, Platts said its FOB Newcastle 5500 NAR reflects transactions, bids and  offers as determined by buyers and sellers in the open spot market.

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 of Platts International Coal Report.

“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.”

Platts said it 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.

UK-based global energy media Argus said it has launched an additional assessment for cfr South China 6,000 kcal/kg NAR thermal coal prices.

Argus said it launched the assessment in response to industry feedback that shows clear demand for a new price reference, owing to the substantial trading volume of 6,000 kcal/kg NAR coal from sources such as South Africa and Australia being delivered to southern China. The assessment is expected to be a key reference point for major industry participants including coal traders, risk managers and regulators.

China imported around 100mn tonnes of thermal coal in 2011 to generate electricity. Imports are likely to grow as the country’s economy continues to expand.

“We are pleased to introduce the new assessment. We have a team of professionals based in China, Singapore and Japan who are assessing this market on a daily basis. No other company brings the same level of resources to the Asian coal markets,” Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said.