NEW YORK, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., a subsidiary of NYMEX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: NMX), today announced that it plans to introduce a futures contract based on prevailing market prices for hot-rolled steel coil in the U.S. Midwest region (U.S. Midwest domestic hot-rolled coil steel) early in the fourth quarter of 2008. The contract will be financially settled against an index developed by CRU Indices Ltd., a subsidiary of CRU International Ltd., a leading supplier of steel industry information.

The contract size will be 20 short tons with a minimum price fluctuation of $0.50 per short ton and the contract will be listed for 18 consecutive months. Final settlement on the monthly contract will be the average price calculated for all available price assessments published for that given month. The steel futures contract will be available for trading on the CME Globex(R) electronic trading platform, and off-exchange transactions can be submitted for clearing via NYMEX ClearPort(R).

NYMEX Chairman Richard Schaeffer said, 'NYMEX's expansion into the steel market is a natural extension of our risk management business and we are pleased to offer a steel futures contract to serve the North American market. Managing price volatility has become a necessity for everyone involved along the steel supply chain and these contracts will assist the U.S. manufacturing industry in dealing with this issue.'

'The NYMEX decision to license CRU's price assessments is yet a further endorsement of their accuracy, and of the robustness of our research procedures,' said CRU Group Chairman, Robert Perlman. 'Wherever steel is traded, from physical transactions to futures, we believe our price assessments give all participants the truest picture of the market.'

The U.S. domestic steel sheet market is comprised of approximately 12 major steel mills that produce more than 50 million short tons of sheet products annually, with net hot-rolled coil representing nearly 20 million tons of this market. Physical trade in steel sheet takes place throughout the supply chain, and includes these mills, along with service centers, distributors, merchants and end-users.