Spot trade at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME reached 634 trillion rials ($2 billion) in the fourth calendar month ending July 22.
This was 20% down on the preceding month when commodities worth 802 trillion rials ($2.5b) changed hands in the IME, according to IME data.
Deals included 8.84 million tons of goods and commodities -- 18% decline in volume on a monthly basis.
IME is a commodities exchange in Tehran founded in 2006 to sell farm, industrial and petrochemical products in the spot and futures markets.
Industrial and mineral products contributed the most to the trade, accounting for 87% of the value of deals in the spot market.
More than 7.96 million tons worth 409 trillion rials ($1.3b) changed hands on industrial and mineral floor in the month.
As always cement topped the list with 4.352 million tons followed by 1.428 million tons of steel products. Other commodities included 1.55 million tons iron ore, 20,910 tons copper, 36,225 tons aluminum, 273,500 tons sponge iron, 41,400 tons zinc, 510 tons molybdenum concentrate, 1,000 tons coke, 60 tons lead, 60 tons precious metal concentrate and 57 kilograms gold ingot.
Commodities traded on the petrochemical and petroleum floor stood at 1.121 million tons at 218 trillion rials ($703 million). Goods in this category were bought by domestic and foreign companies.
According to the IME report, commodities in this category included 275,059 tons of bitumen, 316,753 tons polymer, 161,706 tons chemicals, 13,456 tons base oil and 201,350 tons vacuum bottom. The list also includes 4,605 tons sulfur, 110 tons argon, 148,500 tons lube cut and 755 tons moisture insulation materials.
Deals in the IME Side Market amounted to 31,660 tons. In this floor miscellaneous goods are traded. No deal was reported on the agriculture floor.
Auto Sales
After two months of auto sales at the IME, this operation ended after an order by the Industries Ministry in late May.
At the time the ministry argued that the practice was incompatible with rules aimed to regulate the chaotic auto market and added to the volatility in the auto sector.
The ministry’s move was censured by market observers and stakeholders as “undermining transparency” that would hurt efforts to curb the government’s arbitrary intervention in the auto market.
However, the ministry backtracked earlier in July and the High Council of Securities and Exchange decided to resume selling cars at the IME by offering selected brands.
As per current procedures cars that are not subject to pricing mechanism by the government can be offered at the IME.
Annual deals in IME's spot market reached 6,300.6 trillion rials ($20.3b) in the last fiscal year (ended March), up 102% on earlier year and the highest annual growth since the founding of IME in 2006.
