(Yicai Global) April 18 -- The Shanghai Futures Exchange will explore developing an over-the-counter derivatives trading platform for bulk commodities to foster healthy market growth, according to General Manager Wang Fenghai.

The exchange will refer to international practices and push the development of the OTC commodity derivatives trading platform in accordance with the law and regulations, Wang told the fourth China Bulk Commodity Financial Services Innovation Summit in Shanghai today.

At present, the overall operation of China’s futures market is stable, and the country’s opening-up has been carried out in an orderly manner. Crude oil futures, China’s first futures contracts open to outsiders, were listed on the SFE in 2018 and now the nation is the world’s third-largest crude oil futures market.

The SFE has four types of futures products and one options product available to the outside world, and the market’s participants are located in more than 20 countries and regions across six continents.

Bulk commodity trading has shifted from traditional spot trades to basis and weighted trades, with the SFE actively responding to market developments, Wang noted.

The SFE will look at innovating its bulk commodity business, he said, adding that the exchange will unveil innovations such as basis trading and commodity swap trading this year and provide brick-and-mortar firms with personalized risk management tools.

Turnover on the SFE jumped 62 percent to 1.9 billion lots in 2022 from 1.2 billion lots in 2018, and the value of transactions surged 92 percent to CNY181.3 trillion (USD26.4 trillion) from CNY94.3 trillion, per statistics from the Futures Industry Association Global.

Editor: Peter Thomas