China's bonded copper futures see active trade by int'l investors since launched

Photo: The Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) launches the bonded copper futures in Shanghai, Nov. 19. 

BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- International investors are actively participating in transactions of the bonded copper futures launched by the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) a month ago, the Xinhua-run cnstock.com reported on Tuesday. 

The INE, a subsidiary of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, launched the bonded copper futures on Nov. 19. Accessible to foreign investors for trade, the INE copper contract is China's sixth internationalized commodities contract following crude oil, iron ore, rubber and low-sulphur fuel oil.

According to INE, as of the close on Dec. 18, the bonded copper futures had been running for 22 trading days, with a total trading volume of 401,300 lots and a turnover of about 102.3 billion yuan. It saw total positions of 17,500 lots, an increase of 736.1 percent from the first day of listing.

It is learned that 15 market makers have been introduced for the bonded copper futures, which has gradually and effectively brought the market-making function into play and provided the market liquidity. 

Through the bonded copper contracts, London and Shanghai, the world's two largest metal futures trading markets, have officially broken the barriers. In the future, the price of the bonded copper futures is expected to become one of the important pricing benchmarks for cross-border copper transactions in the Asia-Pacific time zone, boosting the internationalization of China's commodity futures market, said Tiger Shi, CEO of BANDS Financial Limited, a leading commodity and financial futures broker based in Hong Kong.

Head of the INE said that the bourse will closely watch the market operations and continuously optimize rules of the bonded copper futures in a timely manner based on the feedback from all parties in the market, so as to meet the risk management needs of the copper market players at home and abroad, and better serve the development of real economy.

China is the largest consumer and importer of copper, with 3.55 million tonnes of refined copper imported in 2019. (Edited by Hu Pingchao with Xinhua Silk Road, hupingchao@xinhua.org)