Biomass exchange soon to launch

Oct. 5, 2011, Amsterdam/Brussels/London –
Energy exchange APX-ENDEX, in cooperation with Port of Rotterdam, will launch
the biomass exchange on November 3, 2011. Maxime Verhagen, Dutch minister of economic
affairs, agriculture, and innovation, will open the world’s first biomass
exchange in a ceremony that will be held in Amsterdam.

The exchange will be developed in two
phases. Phase one starts with non-cleared products where the physical
settlement is arranged bilaterally by the counterparties, allowing market
participants to trade standard contracts in a transparent environment. During
phase two, clearing services for wood pellets contracts will be developed and
implemented, providing further financial security to market participants. This
is scheduled to take place during the course of 2012.

Contracts offered for trading include three
months, three quarters, and three calendars. As with all APX-ENDEX futures
contracts, wood pellets contracts are listed on Trayport’s Global Vision Trading
Gateway.

During the process of finalizing the design
of the market and the product specifications, including sustainability criteria,
APX-ENDEX has cooperated closely with the market participants already active in
trading biomass products, and their support and feedback has been vital for
launching the wood pellets exchange. With the final approval by the Netherlands
Authority for the Financial Markets, APX-ENDEX is now ready to launch the
market.