Credit: REUTERS/ALY SONGBEIJING/SHANGHAI, July 24 (Reuters) - China's Shanghai Futures Exchange will prepare for the listing of ferrochrome futures, advance products like cold-rolled coils, medium plates and steel options, and speed a drive for foreign investors to trade steel futures, an exchange official said.
China's internationalisation of commodities futures contracts would allow foreign investors to trade in them. At present, foreign companies have limited access to its commodities markets.
The measures will fend off systemic financial risks and safeguard stable operations, exchange chairman Jiang Yan told the online China Steel Development Forum on Friday.
The opening up of the steel futures market would enhance its pricing power in theglobal market he added.
"The exchange will continue to push forward product and business innovations and enhance our services to the real economy," he told forum participants.
China is the world's top steel producer with annual output of crude steel just shy of 1 billion tonnes in 2019.
Its Shanghai bourse has several listed steel products, including steel rebar, hot-rolled coils and stainless steel and wire rod futures, which saw trades of 2.23 billion tonnes in the first half of 2020, said Jiang.
As part of ambitions to become a commodities pricing power, China has internationalised five futures contracts, such as crude oil, TSR 20 rubber, iron ore, purified terephthalic acid and more recently, low-sulphur fuel oil in June. (Reporting by Min Zhang in Beijing and Emily Chow in Shanghai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) ((emily.chow@thomsonreuters.com; +862120830020; Reuters Messaging: emily.chow.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: CHINA STEEL/
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