New spot trading platform to enhance influence

Xin Hua Merchandise Exchange, which is offering fuel oil and methanol as its first batch of commodities, was launched on Saturday in Daqing, with the aim of developing into an influential spot trading platform and help China gain a bigger say in the international oil market.

The exchange is controlled by Xinhua News Agency and co-sponsored by Daqing municipal government, and Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co Ltd (GDZR), a State-owned company specializing in energy and natural resources commodities.

GDZR is one of China's five companies that have the rights to import crude oil from abroad. An industry insider said as a participant on the platform it would provide more channels for domestic refineries to purchase fuel oil materials.

"When the trading scale of the exchange grows to a certain level, we will realize our target naturally and earn the right to have a voice in the global market," said Xiong Shaohui, president of GDZR. "The exchange has established cooperative relationships with four major banks and got credit authorization of 40 billion yuan ($6.5 billion) from them."

He predicted the trading scale of the exchange would reach 30 billion yuan in 2013 and grow to 80 billion yuan by the end of 2015.

He added the company will provide about 3 million to 5 million tons of fuel oil to trade on the platform this year.

As China's manufacturing industry develops, the need for trading platforms of raw material commodities has increased and the spot-trading platform is an important complement for futures exchanges.

China has 300 spot trading exchanges at present and the annual trading volume reached more than 2 trillion yuan in 2012, according to publicly available figures.

"The futures market cannot satisfy the country's development," said Hu Yuyue, director of the securities and futures research institute, under Beijing Technology and Business University.

"The government has been trying to upgrade the industrial landscape, which requires improved trading modes."

The new exchange will release price indexes and spot trading information that will contribute to realizing China's pricing power in the international commodities market.

"The target of the new exchange is to establish an influential center for spot trading, commodities pricing and information distribution," said Shen Haixiong, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua.