ICE launches new U.S., Indonesian coal contracts

ICE Futures Europe? announced last week that it will launch four new coal price risk management contracts on 21 February 2011, covering US and Indonesian coal.

The new products, all cash‐settled, will include three new U.S. thermal coal futures contracts settled against daily assessments published in Platts Coal Trader: Central Appalachian Coal (UCA), CSX Coal (UCX) and Powder River Basin (UCP), the company said in press release statement on January 27, 2011

In addition, the Exchange will introduce an Indonesian subbituminous coal futures contract, which will settle against the IHS McCloskey Indonesian sub-bituminous FOB marker, it said.

Market participants trading the four new contracts will benefit from margin offsets offered against positions in the ICE Rotterdam, ICE Richards Bay and globalCOAL ICE Newcastle Coal Futures, as well as a range of other energy contracts.

globalCOAL CEO Eoghan Cunningham commented: ?We are delighted to see ICE innovate with these additions to the ICE Coal Futures portfolio. With margin offsets providing significant capital efficiencies, there is a considerable benefit for coal market participants to be able to access and even greater range of contracts covering the world?s leading coal hubs.? ICE cleared over one billion tonne of coal futures contracts 2010, including the first ICE Coal Options trade in December 2010. (denny)