On April 22, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) convened a symposium on the nonferrous metals derivatives market. Participants included industry associations, industrial enterprises, overseas institutions, and member firms. During the meeting, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association presented on global nickel industry development trends. Attendees engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges centered on the theme of leveraging the futures market's functions to serve the industry, engage globally, and support high-quality development of the real economy.
Starting from the night continuous trading session on April 21, SHFE officially opened its nickel futures and nickel options contracts to overseas traders and Qualified Foreign Investors (QFI). Simultaneously, it launched TSR 20 rubber options and international copper options, permitting these entities to participate in trading. This expansion brings the number of SHFE's designated specific products to ten and increases the number of products available for QFI trading to 36.
Laijinping, Manager of the Nickel Business Department at Gansu Jinchuan Nickel Cobalt Group, stated that the internationalization of nickel futures and options signifies the accelerated integration of China's nickel industry into the global pricing system. He noted this will further optimize the nickel market structure, enhance market depth and liquidity, improve the nickel price formation mechanism, and boost the global influence of the "Shanghai Price."
Zhang Liyou, Deputy General Manager of the Sales Department at Tsingshan Holding Group, remarked that in recent years, SHFE has continuously optimized nickel futures contracts and enhanced its delivery service capabilities, increasing the convenience for physical enterprises to participate in nickel futures trading and delivery. He believes the internationalization of nickel futures and options will help companies integrate more deeply into the global market and better navigate opportunities and challenges in their development.
Shi Chenghu, CEO of Panshi Financial Limited, commented that the internationalization of nickel futures and options responds to the demand from overseas clients for more Chinese futures products with strong liquidity, close international correlation, and effective functionality.
Gu Wensi, Manager of Capital Futures Hong Kong Company Limited, expressed that SHFE's related measures help further strengthen the connectivity between the Chinese market and international markets, enhancing the global representativeness of price discovery. With continuous system improvements and increasing diversity of participants, China's futures market will play a more significant role in the global financial system.
After more than three decades of development, SHFE's nonferrous metals futures and options products, including copper, aluminum, and nickel, have gradually become one of the most maturely operated and industry-engaged commodity futures sectors in China. In 2025, the cumulative turnover value for nonferrous metals futures reached 207.20 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 43.81%, with a cumulative delivery value of 1,429.34 billion yuan, up 18.64% year-on-year. In 2025, China's first recycled commodity futures product, cast aluminum alloy futures, was listed. In March of this year, SHFE incorporated recycled lead into its lead futures delivery system to better serve the green and high-quality development of the nonferrous metals industry. Furthermore, SHFE has continuously improved its warehousing and logistics systems and enriched its delivery registered brands. By the end of March 2026, there were 383 deliverable brands for nonferrous metals, with 62 nonferrous metals delivery warehouses and 132 pickup points established, covering 20 provinces and municipalities.
On August 8, 2025, SHFE's general international business rules officially took effect, establishing a regulatory framework compatible with the exchange's platform internationalization. On January 23, 2026, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced the designation of nickel futures and options as domestic specific products. Nickel futures are the first fully-taxed nonferrous metals futures product launched for external opening following SHFE's platform internationalization. This move also represents an active effort by SHFE to align with the global development needs of the industry, serve the nation's high-level opening-up policy, and strengthen the pricing influence of bulk commodities.
Moving forward, SHFE will implement requirements for risk prevention, strengthened supervision, and promotion of high-quality development. Aiming to "accelerate the establishment of a world-class exchange," it will continue building a high-quality product and industrial service system, maintain stable market operation and functional effectiveness, enhance the convenience for real economy participation, steadily advance high-level opening up, and better serve the construction of a modern industrial system and the development of new quality productive forces.
Comments