06 Jun 2014, 9:53 am
The move is part of measures to internationalise China's commodity markets, the newspaper said.
ShFE vice general manager Ye Chunhe also told a conference in Shanghai last week that the exchange expects to launch a futures contract on a base metals index, according to the Financial Times which cited Securities Times, the official newspaper authorized by the China Securities Regulatory Commission to release news on Chinese listed companies.
The Securities Times also said that the ShFE has also designed options contracts for copper and gold, although it did not cite sources for this information, the Financial Times said.
Futures contracts are agreements to buy or sell an agreed amount of a commodity at a specified future date and at a pre-agreed price.
China is the world’s biggest consumer of commodities such as copper and iron ore and has long wanted to secure more pricing power on the international market, partly by launching new futures contracts, said the Financial Times.
According to the newspaper the ShFE is the country’s biggest commodity exchange by the value of contracts handled. It trades copper, zinc, lead, aluminium, natural rubber and fuel oil, as well as gold and silver.
The exchange also aims to launch crude oil futures this year, which could give China greater influence in global pricing, according to the newspaper.
