Arlington, VA, March 4, 2011—Members of the Coal Trading Association (CTA) have approved a new technical specification for a CSX Rail Product in Central Appalachia (CAPP).
According to CTA President Sean Murphy, “The quality of coal being mined in Central Appalachia is changing and our membership indicated that a new specification was in order to reflect this reality. After discussions with coal buyers, sellers, and traders, we jointly developed a new spec, which will be added to the standard products for the traded coal market to consider.”
This proposal will not affect currently cleared coal products (commonly known as NYMEX/QL, CSX/QX, and PRB/QP). The CTA will work with its members, CME, and others to determine whether a new cleared product based on the new spec is warranted and if so how it would be implemented.
The specs are exactly the same as the existing CSX product, but the typical and reject BTU parameters have been reduced by 200 BTU/lb (from 12,500/12,200 to 12,300/12,000):
- Origin: CSX Kanawha and/or Big Sandy Freight District
- Contract Size: Unit Trains of approximately 11,000 tons
- QVA: QVA Applies
- Delivery Point: FOB Railcar at the mine, capable of loading 11,000 ton trains in 4 hours or less
- BTU: 12,300 Btu/lb typical with rejection below 12,000 Btu/lb
- Moisture: 7 % typical
- Ash: 12% with rejection above 13.5%
- SO2: Reject >1% sulfur
- HGI: 42-45 typical, reject below 40
- Volatile Matter: Minimum 30%
- Sizing: 2″ x 0″ with maximum 55% below ¼”
- Initial Fusion Temp: 2,600 AFT typical
- Delivery Point: FOB Railcar at the mine, capable of loading 11,000 ton trains in 4 hours or less
This spec and other current issues will be discussed at the CTA’s Midyear Meeting, which will be held July 27-28 in New Orleans, LA. Details are on the CTA’s website (http://www.coaltrade.org).
The CTA exists to promote coal trading. CTA develops and maintains industry standards for coal trading activities with the goal of achieving a disciplined, liquid, and efficient coal trading industry. To achieve this goal, CTA develops consensus-based policies, exchanges information among members and other interested professional and technical groups, and offers training programs to improve the knowledge, skills, and practice tools of its members.
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