Dalian Commodity Exchange to start trading iron ore futures on Oct 18

Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), one of the four futures exchanges in mainland China, has announced that it will launch trading of iron ore futures on October 18.

According to the DCE, trading will be for iron ore containing 62 percent Fe, in units of 100 mt. Trading deposits will be equal to five percent of the value of contracts. The trading of iron ore futures at Dalian is expected to help establish a pricing system which will better reflect supply and demand in China and will also help Chinese enterprises to manage risks of fluctuations in prices.

Iron ore is the second largest commodity market in the world in terms of value, next only to crude oil, while China is the world's largest iron ore importer and consumer of the raw material.