THE Shanghai Futures Exchange is planning to launch China’s first nickel and tin futures this year, domestic media reported Friday, as part of steps to internationalize the country’s commodity markets.

    Ye Chunhe, vice general manager of the Shanghai exchange, also confirmed to a conference in Shanghai on Thursday that the bourse expects to launch a futures contract on a base metals index, the Securities Times reported.

    The paper added, without citing sources, that the exchange had also designed options contracts for copper and gold.

    China, the world’s biggest consumer of commodities ranging from copper to iron ore, has always sought to secure more pricing power on the international market, partly by launching new futures contracts.

    The Shanghai exchange, the country’s biggest commodity exchange by the value of contracts handled, trades copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, natural rubber, fuel oil and rebar, besides gold and silver.

    China is aiming to launch its first crude oil futures contract this year, Jiang Yang, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said Wednesday, a move that would give the world’s second-largest oil consumer greater influence in global pricing.

    The long-delayed crude oil contract, proposed by the Shanghai Futures Exchange, will be China’s first commodity futures contract that allows participation from overseas institutional investors without setting up a local subsidiary.

    The crude oil contract has been delayed since 2012. Investors are closely watching its proposed launch as the yuan-denominated contract, which will allow foreign investors to settle in U.S. dollars, would mark a milestone in China’s liberalization of its capital markets.

    Jiang said that preparatory work for the contract is largely complete and the Shanghai exchange will step up coordination with other regulatory bodies to ensure its timely launch.

    The contract needs approval from several bodies, including China’s foreign exchange regulator as the Chinese yuan cannot be freely converted.

    Domestic media reported last week that the State Administration of Foreign Exchange may give foreign investors a daily foreign exchange quota of above US$5 billion per day for crude futures trading, higher than the amount proposed by the Shanghai exchange in its draft plans. (SD-Agencies)