OREANDA-NEWS. December 01, 2011. China Beijing International Mining Exchange (CBMX) unveiled a plan to launch a trading platform for physical iron ore by the end of this year. This platform will be based on globalORE, the worldбпs largest electronic marketplace for coal with its headquarters in London.

At present, there are several major iron ore indices at home: CISAбпs CIOPI, Mysteel Iron Ore Index, Xinhua-China Iron Ore Index and indices released by some other institutions. The three major international iron ore indices are Platts Iron Ore Index, The Steel Index and Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index, with Plattsбп playing a major role globally. But most domestic institutions tend to downgrade the Platts price, which is typically quoted at a higher price than domestic ones, since it is calculated on the basis of enquiries rather than actual transaction prices.

There is a report that Tianjin Mining Exchange also hopes to create a platform for the trading of spot iron ore. Under the current rules, no financial agencies and exchanges in China are allowed to engage in the trading of iron ore futures contracts. CBMX aims at establishing a completely spot-based platform for the trading of iron ore that will offer its customers a transparent route to the physical market.