Major state copper and aluminium producers were among the companies that traded almost half a billion yuan of metal on Shanghai Futures Exchange's (ShFE) new physical trading platform in its debut on Monday, the exchange said.
Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group and Chalco were amongst the companies that transacted using the platform. Out of the 123 transactions, 111 were in aluminium and the remainder in copper, it said.
The total volume was worth 477 million yuan ($74.5 million), it said.
The exchange launched the platform on Monday as part of efforts to improve transparency and challenge rivals, like the London Metal Exchange and CME Group Inc, in the global futures market.
The platform sets physical premiums and discounts for cash-settled futures warrants depending on the commodity's location, quality and brand.
It will expand to include more commodities, including zinc, lead, nickel, tin and silver, in the next step, Jiang Yan, president of ShFE, said in a speech at the launch, according to the exchange's statement. He did not say when that would be.
($1 = 6.3991 Chinese yuan renminbi)
