An estimated 10.3 million tons of goods changed hands in the spot market of Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) in the last calendar month to August 22.
Compared to the month before, deals increased 16% in terms of volume, according to data published by the IME.
Traded goods were worth 651 trillion rials ($2.2 billion), indicating a subtle 2% rise.
IME is a commodities exchange in Tehran founded in 2006 to sell farm, industrial and petrochemical products in the spot and futures markets.
As always, industrial and mineral products contributed the most to trade, accounting for 84% of volume and 61% of value of the deals, respectively, in the spot market.
More than 8.443 million tons of goods worth 401 trillion rials ($1.38b) changed hands on industrial and mineral floor in the month.
As often, cement topped the list with 4.231 million tons followed by 1.253 million tons of steel. Other commodities included 2.374 million tons iron ore, 25,701 tons copper, 46,555 tons aluminum, 371,500 tons sponge iron, 114,875 tons zinc, 730 tons molybdenum concentrate, 500 tons coke, 60 tons lead, 60 tons precious metal concentrate and 91 kilograms gold ingot.
Commodities traded on the petrochemical and petroleum floor reached 1.827 million tons worth 246 trillion rials ($848 million). Goods in this category were bought by domestic and foreign companies.
According to the IME report, commodities in this category included 532,275 tons of bitumen, 756,321 tons polymer, 134,590 tons chemicals, 22,017 tons base oil and 547,600 tons vacuum bottom. The list included 110,125 tons sulfur, 149,500 tons lube cut and 1,300 tons moisture insulation materials.
Deals in the IME Side Market amounted to 40,997 tons of miscellaneous goods. No deal was reported on the key agriculture floor.
Auto Sales
According to the IME report, auto sale resumed in the previous month after a brief hiatus with auto suppliers offering 600 cars.
Cars were offered under Fidelity and Dignity brands of Chinese auto makers, which is assembled by Bahman Motors in Iran.
Auto sale was temporarily halted by the Industries Ministry in late May as it argued that the practice was incompatible with rules aimed to regulate the chaotic auto market and adds to volatility in the chaotic 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 in July and the High Council of Securities and Exchange decided to resume car sales by offering selected brands.
As per current procedures, only cars not subject to pricing mechanism by the government can be offered via the IME.
