Overview

The API 5 price assessment is the key price reference used for coal supply agreements in the Australian and Chinese markets. API 5 references a lower-heat product than API 2 or API 4 and is used in physical and over-the-counter contracts.It is calculated as an average of the Argus and McCloskey's price assessments for fob Newcastle 5,500 kcal/kg NAR coal.

Price assessment details

What are the advantages of the Argus API 5 coal price assessment?

The API 5 price assessment is a highly liquid and robust benchmark price, and an easy-to-use and easy-to-hedge price for coal sales and derivatives. The lower-heat 5,500 kcal/kg coal specification is a common thermal coal type and is replacing 6,000 kcal/kg product for some thermal power generators in Asia-Pacific.

API prices are published every Friday in the Argus/McCloskey’s Coal Price Index Report service, which provides daily, weekly and monthly average price assessments for South Africa and the other major coal trading hubs globally.

How is this assessment used?

Throughout South African, Australian and Asian coal markets, physical players turn to the API 5 price assessment for supply agreements, transfer pricing and risk management. The API 5 price assessment is widely used as the settlement basis for contracts settled on world futures markets.

Argus coal market services provide you globally trusted price benchmarks, high quality market intelligence and in-depth analytics that you need to meet the demands of today’s global coal markets. Our global coverage includes key prices such as ICI 3, ICI 4, API 2, API 4, API 5, API 6, API 8, API 10, API 12 and the Richards Bay off-specification differentials. API indexes are assessments published by Argus Media and McCloskey by Opis, a Dow Jones company.

 

Key price assessments

Argus’ coal price benchmarks are recognised by the market as trusted and reliable indicators of the real market value. Explore some of our most widely used and relevant price assessments.