China extends iron ore futures trading

Beijing. May 3. Silkroadnews - China will attract foreign traders to the iron ore futures market at the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) from May 4, which is expected to help develop a generally accepted price benchmark, China Daily reported.
“China, as the world’s largest importer and consumer of iron ore, has the obligation to provide an open, transparent and fair price benchmark reflecting the real supply and demand situation on the global iron ore market,” the agency quoted Li Zhengqiang, DCE chairman, saying.
According to the China General Administration of Customs, the country’s iron ore imports increased to a record level of 1,075 billion metric tons in 2017, which is 5% more compared to previous year.
In 2017, DCE’s iron ore futures volume reached 329 million lots (32.9 billion tons), 23.44 times the total amount of iron ore swaps and futures transactions on the Singapore Exchange Ltd, the world’s second-largest iron ore derivative market, the report reads.
In April, DCE organized the Futures Market Monitoring Center in China, participants in futures companies and information providers, and conducted two market tests.
Currently, futures brokers actively implement various activities to promote the market and facilitate the preparation for the opening of accounts for overseas clients and registration, trade, delivery and other transactions involving overseas brokers.
The internationalization of futures for iron ore is an important move in the opening up of the financial sector of China.