The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) saw a bustling day on Sunday as various zinc commodities and steel slab-c dominated its industrial and mining trading floor.
According to the IME’s public relations and foreign affairs office, almost 74,350 tons of steel slab-c, priced 15,020 rials per kg, were offered by Khuzestan Steel Company, which also announced an extra 70,000 tons of the same commodity in stock for potential buyers.
The IME also played host to 4,000 tons of copper cathode, with the base price of 217,705 rials per kg by the National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICC), which also offered 30,000 tons of low-grade copper, 100 tons of molybdenum sulfur, and 18 tons of precious metals concentrate. In addition, 270 tons of copper wire, priced at 225,818 rials per kg was offered by the Copper World.
Also on the industrial and mining floor, 800 tons of aluminum ingot 99.7 percent purity, as well as 100 tons of zinc ingot 99.98 percent, were offered by Zanjan Khales Sazan Zinc Industry.
On the agricultural trading floor, local suppliers offered almost 800 tons of different types of rice. Some 200 tons of corn, with the base price of 8,500 rials per kg, were also supplied there.
Finally, the oil and petrochemical trading floor played host to nearly 36,000 tons of bitumen of various grades, 2,870 tons of chemicals, 31,000 tons of lube-cut oil, and 3,500 tons of sulfur. An extra 25,100 tons of bitumen, as well as 100 tons of roof insulation were offered to potential overseas buyers on the export trading floor.
Overall, almost 283,000 tons of various commodities were traded at the IME on Sunday.
Booming Oil, Petrochem Companies
Meanwhile, as SENA reported, orderly and proper planning has helped oil and petrochemical companies offer different products in the IME, which has kept the balance in the oil and petrochemical trading floor.
A total trade of some 2.5 million metric tons of commodities, worth more than 84 trillion rials, during the first three quarters of the Iranian year, which started March 21, 2014, has helped considerably reduce unreal demand.
Based on the report, the trades of oil and petrochemical products, particularly polymers, are currently at a satisfactory level. The significant increase in the volume of offers has made the market more transparent, eliminating the mediators and providing more room for maneuver for the real consumers of raw materials. The positive trend in the IME can also be traced in the new rules set by the oil ministry, based on which all petrochemical companies and refineries across the country have to offer their products in the IME. The offering of such products at the commodity market has also helped reopen the refineries’ ticker symbols on the TSE’s trading board. The ambiguity in the pricing system of refineries’ feedstock was the bone of contention and the main reason behind the months-long absence of refineries from the stock market.
Since the closing of the ticker symbols, none of the refineries have been able to present their six-month financial outlook. They have also not been able to officially announce their gains and losses since the current Iranian calendar year started (March 21, 2014), which led to widespread dissatisfaction among the shareholders.
