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Oil, coke feature on first spot trading bourse

By Zhou Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-09 07:57

Tianjin Bohai Commodity Exchange, the country's first spot commodity bourse backed by the local government, is slated to debut trading of crude oil and coke as its first two products, aiming to boost domestic firms' bargaining power in the pricing of the two items in the global market.

The exchange, which is set to launch in Tianjin on Dec 18, also plans to facilitate spot trading in products of non-ferrous metals, iron and steel, and agricultural products in the future, said Yan Dongsheng, chairman of the bourse, during a road show in Shanghai yesterday. He did not disclose a timetable for the expansion.

"We're going to develop a comprehensive spot market in the country so that all commodities traded on our exchange will be brought under spot exchanging," Yan said.

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China is the world's second largest country for base oil consumption, using 7.3 million barrels per day, but currently domestic oil importers still have to trade in prices set by the world's two major international petroleum exchanges - New York Mercantile Exchange and the International Petroleum Exchange in London.

"The ultimate goal for our bourse is to set up a trading platform to provide transparent prices for commodities, and breed a system that will make the pricing of those products to be traded globally based on local pricing in the long term," Yan said.

Over 90 merchants and investment firms have been attracted to the Bohai bourse's road show in Shanghai, seeking an alternative investment measure.

"There's no such organized commodities bourse for spot trading in China that we believe will be of interest to many investors," said Zhao Jun, CEO of Shanghai Youngsun Investment Co, which is among the exchange's 100 authorized agents providing trading services for investors.

"For oil refiners, the exchange will help us to hedge against price fluctuations during our daily operations," said Li Yang, a representative from PetroChina International (East China) Co Ltd.