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Period Codes

A period code represents an absolute or relative delivery period for some commodity or financial future

Valid Period Codes

Here is a list of the standard naming portions of period codes:

NameDefinitionExample
ABS_YEARyyyy2020
ABS_DAYABS_YEAR D MONTH DAY2020D1022
ABS_DAYAHEADABS_YEAR DA MONTH DAY2020DA1022
PERIOD[0-9]([0-9])*01
MONTHNAME3 char English month nameJAN

Here is a list of the syntax for valid period codes

Intraday periods

NameDefinitionExample
Quarter hourABS_DAY “-QH” PERIOD2020D1022-QH01
Relative quarter hour“QH” PERIODQH01
Half hourABS_DAY “-HH” PERIOD2020D1022-HH01
Relative half hour“HH” PERIODHH01
HourABS_DAY “-H” PERIOD2020D1022-H01
Relative hour“H” PERIODH01
DayABS_DAY2020D1022
Relative day“D” PERIODD01
Day AheadABS_DAYAHEAD2020DA1022
Relative Day Ahead“DA“ PERIODDA01

Standard periods

NameDefinitionExample
WeekendABS_YEAR “WKD” PERIOD2020WKD01
Relative weekend“WKD” PERIODWKD01
Working weekABS_YEAR “WW” PERIOD2020WW01
Relative working week“WW” PERIODWW01
WeekABS_YEAR “W” PERIOD2020W01
Relative week“W” PERIODW01
Half monthABS_YEAR “HM”((DAY))? PERIOD2020HM01 or 2020HM(14)01
Relative half month“HM”((DAY))? PERIODHM01 or HM(14)01
MonthABS_YEAR “M” PERIOD2020M01
Relative month“M” PERIODM01
QuarterABS_YEAR “Q” PERIOD2020Q01
Relative quarter“Q” PERIODQ01
SeasonABS_YEAR “S” PERIOD2020S01
Relative season“S” PERIODS01
US Winter SeasonABS_YEAR “USW”2020USW
US Winter Relative season“USW” PERIODUSW01
US Spring SeasonABS_YEAR “USP”2020USP
US Spring Relative season“USP” PERIODUSP01
US Summer SeasonABS_YEAR “USS”2020USS
US Summer Relative season“USS” PERIODUSS01
Half yearABS_YEAR “HY” PERIOD2020HY01
Relative half year“HY” PERIODHY01
Year starting on monthABS_YEAR “Y” MONTHNAME2020YJAN
Relative year starting on month“Y” MONTHNAME PERIODYJAN01
YearABS_YEAR “Y”2020Y
Relative year“Y” PERIODY01

End of period periods

NameDefinitionExample
End of monthABS_YEAR “EOM” PERIOD2020EOM01
Relative end of month“EOM” PERIODEOM01
End of quarterABS_YEAR “EOQ” PERIOD2020EOQ01
Relative end of quarter“EOQ” PERIODEOQ01
End of yearABS_YEAR “EOY” PERIOD2020EOY01
Relative end of year“EOY” PERIODEOY01

Relative only periods

NameDefinitionExample
Balance of week“BOW”BOW
Balance of month“BOM”BOM
Balance of quarter“BOQ”BOQ
Balance of year“BOY”BOY
Within day“WD”WD
Spot“SPOT”SPOT
Prompt“PROMPT”PROMPT
Dated“DTD”DTD
Saturday“SAT”SAT
Sunday“SUN”SUN

Financial periods

NameDefinitionExample
Spot“SP”SP
Overnight“ON”ON
Tomorrow next“TN”TN
Spot next“SN”SN
Spot week“SW”SW
Financial weekPERIOD “W”1W
Financial monthPERIOD “M”1M
Financial yearPERIOD “Y”1Y

Spreads

NameDefinitionExample
Absolute spreadperiod “-” period2021Y-2022Y
Relative spreadperiod “-” periodM01-M02

Custom

You can create custom period codes where you can specify the following:

  • Relative code
  • Absolute code
  • Start of delivery
  • End of delivery
  • Expiry/Last trade date

These custom codes can be used for one-off strange periods or in the case that the required period isn't supported in the list above. All custom period codes start with a 'C', e.g. C2024HW

Gas Periods

If you prefix any of the following period codes with a 'G' it turns it into a gas period which has a 6 hour offset using Central European Time.

  • Within Day - GWD
  • Day - GD
  • Day Ahead - GDA
  • Saturday - GSAT
  • Sunday - GSUN
  • Any of the standard period codes
  • Any of the end of period codes
  • Any of the balance of period codes

For years, you can choose between the following:

  • Gas year (GYnn/yyyyGY) which covers a gas year (October to September)
  • Gas calendar year (GCYnn/yyyyGCY) which covers a calendar year (January to December)