Argus/McCloskey's API 4

What are the advantages of the Argus API 4 coal price assessment?

The API 4 price assessment is the most liquid and most transparent fob coal price in the world. With around 85pc of the world’s coal derivatives settled against the Argus/ McCloskey's API 2^® and API 4^® price assessments.

The API 4 index is an average of the Argus fob Richards Bay 6,000 assessment and the McCloskey Richards Bay FOB marker. The API 4 (EUR) index is the API 4 index converted to euro per tonne using the European Central Bank rate on the day of publica­tion. If the ECB rate is unavailable an alternative is used. The API 4 NAR differentials are an average of the Argus fob Richards Bay differentials and the McCloskey Richards Bay differentials (weekly).

How is this assessment used?

The API 4 index, along with the API 4 NAR differentials, enable market participants to capture fair value across the quality spectrum of the South African coal that they are trading. The index is used for futures and options contracts on financial exchanges and is the settlement basis for quality adjustments, sales and transfer pricing agreements and more.

What is the API price series?

The API indexes represent the price of liquid, physical coal benchmarks at key geographical pricing hubs, such as cif ARA (API 2^® index), and fob Richards Bay (API 4^® index), according to the API specifications. These specifications standardise the assessment around key criteria relating to contract basis, location, and energy value.

The API indexes provide transparency and visibility in the coal spot market and are widely used across the globe as a pricing basis for physical purchases and sales. The API series includes the API 2, API 3, API 4, API 5, API 6, API 8, API 10 and API 12 indexes. These indexes are published in the Argus/McCloskey’s Coal Price Index Report on a weekly basis on the last London working day of the week, usually a Friday.