CME Group said late Wednesday it plans to launch two Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) futures contracts and four Japanese electricity futures contracts in February.

While the electricity contracts would expand CME’s suite of global power futures and options, the two LNG contracts could provide Japanese power producers another tool to manage price risk, the exchange said. 

“The launch of the two new yen-denominated LNG contracts will be relevant for market participants who want to trade the spread between LNG and electricity futures,” said CME’s Izumi Kazuhara, who oversees operations in Japan. 

The LNG contracts available for trading on CME Globex include the Japan Korea Marker and Japan Crude Cocktail, which is based on the average price of nine custom-cleared crude...