Trade volume and value at the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) during the week that ended on April 15 recorded 94 and 113 percent increase respectively compared with the prior trading week, IME’s public relations reported.
Around 688,623 tons of various commodities valued at around $314 million were offered in the spot market during five trading days, registering a weekly surge both in trade volume and value.
More than 71,000 tons of corn in accordance with the government’s new policy to focus on guaranteed price instead of guaranteed purchase – along with 505 tons barely, were traded on the agricultural trading floor over the past week.
Referring to the administration’s efforts in achieving price transparency in trade through the IME, IME head Hossein Panahian lauded the new guaranteed price policy saying the mechanism can expand the agricultural market. He also noted that guaranteed purchase from local farmers in recent years has eliminated middlemen and helped farmers to leverage their margin.
Elsewhere, 345,622 tons of different commodities, priced at more than $178 million, were traded on both local and export industrial and mining trading floor, recording up to 312 and 331 percent hike in trade volume and value respectively. The floor played host to around 347,400 tons of various steel sections, 7,050 tons of copper, 60 tons of zinc ingot, 100 tons of molybdenum concentrate, 12 tons of metal concentrate, and 5 kg of gold bullions.
Furthermore, close to 242,440 tons of different commodities, priced at about $114 million, were sold on both local and export oil and petrochemical trading floor. More than 59,070 tons of various grades of bitumen, 55,550 tons of polymers, 70,070 tons of vacuum bottoms, 32,000 tons of lube-cut oil, 20,830 tons of chemicals, 1,260 tons of roof insulation, 1,600 tons of sulfur and 40 tons of feedstock were also among the commodities traded during the week.
Oil, Petrochemical Trade Up
Meanwhile as IRNA reported, commodities offered on the oil and petrochemical trading floor within the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), registered 8 percent growth in trade volume compared to the previous year.
“Last year was a successful trading year for various commodities particularly oil and petrochemical, with up to 8 and 2 percent growth in trade volume and value respectively,” IRNA quoted Panahian.
He further noted that more than 11.4 million tons of commodities were traded on the oil and petrochemical trading floor, valued at about $6.07 billion.
Including the feedstocks, more than 3,990 tons of commodities, worth $1.73 million were traded on the same trading floor.
As the IME has turned to a platform for transparent trade of oil and petrochemical commodities, trade volume and value of the commodities are expected to increase even further in the upcoming months.
