TEHRAN- In a ceremony on Wednesday, attended by Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Head Majid Eshqi, Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX) launched futures contracts for the first time.

The contracts were launched for the naphtha and methanol trades at the IRENEX.

Iran first launched futures contract, a new financial instrument in Iran’s capital market, in December 2018.

Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) officially launched the mentioned contract in a ceremony at the place of Central Securities Depository of Iran (CSDI), which is the sole registrar, central custodian and clearing house for the Iranian financial market of four exchanges including TSE, Iran's over-the-counter (OTC) market known also as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME), and IRENEX.

Addressing the mentioned ceremony, SEO head at the time, Shapour Mohammadi, said that futures are some very important instruments for the market balance, while they are also some strong hedging tools.

They provide investment opportunities for those who are seeking the amount of profit more than they can earn in the normal market deals, the official noted.

He further highlighted the significance of taking the advantage of new financial instruments to grab the opportunities for market arbitrage (purchasing and selling the same security at the same time in different markets to take advantage of a price difference between the two separate markets).

Futures contracts (more colloquially, futures) are financial contracts obligating the buyer to purchase an asset or the seller to sell an asset at a predetermined future date and price.

MA/MA