The bulk commodity trade in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has reached a scale, and "repeat customers" continue to increase capital, with more and more "first time customers"
On September 22nd, Pudong New Area once again launched relevant policies and implementation plans for commodities, vigorously promoting the accelerated development of commodity trade. Zhejiang Aluminum Tuo Technology Co., Ltd., New Tianshan Cement and other enterprise projects have signed contracts, and heavyweight units such as Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, Shanghai Nonferrous Network Metal Trading Center, Haitong Securities Shanghai Branch, CITIC Futures Co., Ltd. have reached strategic cooperation with the World Expo Management Bureau of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone Management Committee.
Continuously upgrading policies and focusing on institutional innovation
On July 31, 2015, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone's commodity spot market was launched, marking the official operation of the zone's international commodity spot market. Afterwards, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone continued to promote the development of commodity trade in the World Expo area, launching international futures and options such as No. 20 rubber, low sulfur fuel oil, international copper futures, and crude oil options, accounting for more than half of the national international varieties. The international influence of "Shanghai Gold", "Shanghai Offshore Oil", "Shanghai Copper" and other "Shanghai Prices" is increasingly increasing.
After the release of the Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting the High level Reform and Opening up of Pudong New Area to Build a Leading Zone for Socialist Modernization Construction, it is required that Pudong "build an international financial asset trading platform, enhance the price influence of important commodities, and better serve and lead the development of the real economy.". In order to implement the national strategy and enhance the international pricing power of China's commodities, on July 7, 2022, the "Expo Area International Commodity Trade Ecological Integration Zone" was unveiled, and a package of measures to support the construction of the "integration zone" were issued, providing practical policy support for the further aggregation of commodities in the Pudong Expo area.
In just one year, bulk commodity enterprises in the World Expo area achieved sales of goods above the quota of 563.6 billion yuan. As of July this year, the sales revenue of products above the quota has reached 350 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5%, and the sales revenue of metal materials has reached 270 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11%. The Expo area of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has become an important hub for commodity trade, contributing nearly 20% of the sales of commodities in Pudong New Area.
The re release of the Implementation Plan for Promoting Stable Growth and Innovation in Bulk Commodity Trade in Pudong New Area and related new policies is mainly aimed at promoting the development of bulk commodity trade enterprises into headquarters type enterprises and supply chain innovation and application demonstration enterprises; Introduce and cultivate a group of international high-energy commodity trading entities; Assist enterprises in achieving scale growth and encourage commodity trading enterprises to expand their sales scale.
Shi Yinhua, Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Expo Management Bureau of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone Management Committee, introduced that the "Plan" emphasizes institutional innovation, further encourages the development of linkage between futures and futures, accelerates the construction of warehouse receipt registration centers, enhances the functions of trading platforms, and prepares offshore trade business guidelines to help enterprises make good use of relevant policies for offshore trade development.
More and more "first time customers" are returning, and "repeat customers" continue to invest
Shi Yinhua revealed that the international trade system for commodities currently being developed in the World Expo area has basically taken shape. This is mainly reflected in two aspects: the first time customers are attracted by the name, and the second time customers are eager to increase their numbers.
After the unveiling of the World Expo International Commodity Trade Ecological Integration Zone, many commodity enterprises from across the country have come to visit. The World Expo area has become the preferred place for commodity industry chain companies such as Shandong Tonghui Capital Investment Group Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Aluminum Tuo Technology Co., Ltd., and Shanxi Commodity Trading Group Co., Ltd. to expand their business.
In addition, "old friends" of the World Expo have also settled in related sections of the Expo. China National Building Materials has established a new Tianshan Cement Shanghai Branch and plans to add new business segments in the near future, which is expected to become the next billion dollar commodity trading platform; China Gold will increase its business scale and increase the trading volume of bulk commodities.
Chai Zhenglong, Deputy General Manager of China Copper International Trade Group Co., Ltd., told reporters that China Copper International Trade is a strategic unit of China Aluminum Group, mainly engaged in copper, lead, zinc, and mineral products, with an annual operating scale of over 180 billion yuan. "With the support of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, most of our imported copper and gold mines have now been settled in RMB for cross-border transactions. We have also received corresponding policy support in taxation, financing, talent, and other aspects. Looking back on when it was first established in 2018, the annual operating scale was only over 40 billion yuan, which has nearly doubled. It is expected that by 2025, our scale can reach 250 billion yuan."
At present, the World Expo Administration is collaborating with China Copper International Trade and other integrated zone enterprises, Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network, Nonferrous Metals Network Trading Center, etc. to develop the "Pudong Copper Upward Discount Price". After its official release, it will further improve the bulk ecosystem, making more "Shanghai indices" and "Shanghai prices" become barometers of the world market.