TEHRAN- The value of trades at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) has risen 42 percent in the past Iranian calendar week (ended on Friday), the IME’s Public Relations Department reported.

As reported, 718,572 tons of commodities worth $424 million were traded at the exchange in the past week, also indicating a four-percent growth in terms of weight.

The IME traded 400,688 tons of commodities on its mineral and industrial trading floor valued at almost $260 million.

On this floor the IME sold 336,798 tons of steel products, 7,200 tons of copper, 6,555 tons of aluminum, 120 tons of molybdenum concentrate, 15 tons of precious metals concentrate, 50,000 tons of fine iron ore and 41 kg of gold bars.

Furthermore, the exchange played host to trading of 313,691 tons of commodities on both domestic and export rings of its oil and petrochemical trading floor with a trading value of nearly $165 million, which included 55,050 tons of vacuum bottom, 99,770 tons of bitumen, 84,843 tons of polymeric products, 35,006 tons of chemicals, 34,500 tons of lube cut, 3,162 tons of base oil, 50 tons of argon and 325 tons of sulfur.

It's worth noting that the IME's side market was also a platform to trading of 4,193 tons of various types of non-exchange-listed commodities.

As previously reported, over 2,893 tons of commodities worth nearly $1.5 billion have been traded at IME during the past Iranian calendar month of Dey (December 21, 2020-January 19, 2021).

The exchange hosted trading of 1,176,000 tons of commodities with a trading value of more than $740 million on its mineral and industrial trading floor.

On this floor the IME sold 1,093,000 tons of steel, 5,160 tons of copper, 30 tons of precious metals concentrate, 480 tons of molybdenum concentrate, 15,955 tons of aluminum, 800 tons of coke, 20,500 tons of zinc dust, 40,000 tons of iron ore concentrate, 300 tons of cast iron and 54 kg of gold bars.

On its oil and petrochemical trading floor, the IME traded more than 1,707,000 tons of commodities worth nearly $749 million, which included 602,855 tons of various types of bitumen, 257,511 tons of polymeric products, 124,965 tons of chemicals, 6,300 tons of slop wax and 503,760 tons of vacuum bottom. Moreover, the exchange sold on this floor 11,825 tons of base oil, 69,725 tons of sulfur, 200 tons of argon and 129,000 tons of lube cut.

The next trading floor of the IME was agricultural with 10,500 kg of saffron sold on it.

Last but not least, the IME's side market saw trade of 9,510 tons of various types of commodities within the same month.

IME is one of the four major stock markets of Iran, the other three markets are Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), Iran's over-the-counter (OTC) market known also as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), and Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX).

In last April, IME Managing Director Hamed Soltani-Nejad unveiled the market's new outlook plan, which depicts IME's development roadmap until the Iranian calendar year of 1404 (March 20205-March 2026). Materializing the slogan of this Iranian year, which is “Surge in Production” is seriously considered in the mentioned plan and it is, in fact, the strategic approach of the outlook plan.

MA/MA