Iran Mercantile Exchange

The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) is a commodities exchange headquartered in Tehran and focused on organized trading in physical commodities and related contracts. It was established on 20 September 2007 through the merger of the Tehran Metal Exchange and the Iran Agricultural Exchange, bringing major parts of Iran’s organized agricultural and industrial commodity markets under one institution. Its market structure later expanded to include industrial and mineral products, oil and petrochemical products, agricultural goods, and selected precious-metals instruments. IME provides a marketplace in which buyers and sellers submit orders through brokers using an electronic trading system combined with auction-based price discovery. The exchange’s trading floors support spot transactions as well as other contract formats, including forward, credit, futures and options contracts. The precise availability of a contract depends on the relevant product and market rules. Futures trading was introduced in 2008, adding a mechanism for participants to manage price exposure beyond immediate physical delivery. The exchange’s industrial and mineral activity includes steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, cement, gold bars and other precious-metal products. Its oil and petrochemical segment includes bitumen, chemicals, polymers, sulfur, base oil and lube-cut products. Agricultural trading covers grains and cereals such as corn, wheat, rice and bran; dried and processed products including pistachios, dates, raisins, saffron, cumin, tea and sugar; oilseeds and oil meals; pulses such as peas and lentils; and products such as frozen chicken. IME also developed its derivatives offering. In 2016 it introduced gold futures and options, intended to provide hedging and investment tools connected with the gold market. These instruments complemented the exchange’s physical gold-bar activity and broadened its role beyond spot commodity sales. The exchange operates within Iran’s capital-market framework. The Securities and Exchange Organization is identified as the country’s principal regulator for the supervision and development of the capital market, including the regulatory environment in which IME operates. In 2013, IME joined the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges as an observer member, giving it an institutional connection to a wider regional exchange network. As a national commodities marketplace, IME supports standardized trading, broker-mediated access, public price formation and settlement for a broad range of Iranian commodities. Its importance is tied both to domestic industrial and agricultural supply chains and to the use of exchange-traded contracts for transparency and risk management. Public reference material does not establish a separate parent company, founder, current executive roster, listing status or internationally diversified operating footprint; those fields are therefore left unspecified.

The Iran Mercantile Exchange was formed on 20 September 2007 by combining the Tehran Metal Exchange and the Iran Agricultural Exchange. The merger created a single organized marketplace for important Iranian commodity categories that had previously been handled through separate exchange institutions. The new exchange was designed to bring industrial, mineral and agricultural trading into a broader national commodities-market structure. After its creation, IME developed several trading areas covering industrial and mineral products, oil and petrochemical products, and agricultural commodities. Its industrial and mineral market includes metals such as steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, lead and nickel, along with cement, gold bars and other precious-metals products. The oil and petrochemical market includes bitumen, chemicals, polymers, sulfur, base oil and lube cut. Agricultural listings include grains, cereals, oilseeds, oil meals, dried and processed agricultural goods, pulses and frozen chicken. IME uses broker-mediated trading and an electronic platform in which bids and offers interact through an auction-based price-discovery process. Its contract framework includes spot, forward and credit contracts, while futures trading was added in 2008. The combination of physical trading and derivatives allows the exchange to serve both commercial participants seeking delivery and market participants seeking tools for managing price risk. The exchange later broadened its precious-metals activity. In 2016, it introduced gold futures and options, presenting additional instruments for hedging and trading exposure to gold prices. This development complemented its existing physical-market activity in gold bars and other precious metals. IME operates within Iran’s regulated capital-market system. The Securities and Exchange Organization is the principal body responsible for regulation and development of Iran’s capital market. In 2013, IME became an observer member of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges, linking it institutionally with a regional network of exchanges. The available reference material describes IME’s establishment, product categories, contracts and regulatory setting but does not provide a verified current executive list, detailed ownership structure, financial statements, trading-volume series or a complete account of subsequent corporate developments. Those matters remain unspecified in this dossier.

• 2016

  Gold derivatives introduced

  [1]Iran Mercantile Exchangeen.wikipedia.org

  Gold futures and options were introduced as hedging and trading tools.

• 2013

  FEAS observer membership

  [1]Iran Mercantile Exchangeen.wikipedia.org

  IME joined the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges as an observer member.

• 2008

  Futures contracts added

  [1]Iran Mercantile Exchangeen.wikipedia.org

  Futures trading became part of IME’s contract offering.

• 2007

  Exchange established through merger

  [1]Iran Mercantile Exchangeen.wikipedia.org

  The Tehran Metal Exchange and Iran Agricultural Exchange were merged on 20 September 2007 to create the Iran Mercantile Exchange.

A national Iranian commodities marketplace combining physical commodity price discovery with exchange-traded forward, credit, futures and options contracts.

• Commodities · 2007

  Industrial and mineral products

  IME’s industrial and mineral market covers major metals and manufactured or extracted materials, including steel, aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickel and cement. It also includes gold bars and other precious-metals products. These listings provide organized, broker-mediated price discovery for industrial buyers, producers and other market participants.

• Commodities · 2007

  Oil and petrochemical products

  The oil and petrochemical segment includes bitumen, chemicals, polymers, sulfur, base oil and lube cut. The segment gives producers and commercial buyers an exchange-based channel for trading energy-related and petrochemical materials through standardized market procedures.

• Commodities · 2007

  Agricultural commodities

  Agricultural listings span grains and cereals such as corn, wheat, rice and bran; dried and processed goods including pistachios, dates, raisins, saffron, cumin, tea and sugar; oilseeds and oil meals; pulses such as peas and lentils; and frozen chicken. The category reflects IME’s origins in organized agricultural commodity trading.

• Precious-metals derivatives · 2016

  Gold futures and options

  Introduced in 2016, gold futures and options expanded IME’s precious-metals offering beyond physical gold-bar trading. These contracts were presented as tools for hedging and for taking market exposure through exchange-traded derivatives.

• 2016

  Launch gold futures and optionsProduct launch

  Background

  IME expanded its precious-metals activity and provided additional instruments for managing gold-price exposure.

  Action taken

  The exchange introduced gold futures and options.

  Aftermath

  The new contracts complemented physical gold-bar trading and broadened the exchange’s derivatives range.

  Source

• 2008

  Add futures tradingProduct launch

  Background

  The exchange sought to support trading and risk management beyond immediate physical delivery.

  Action taken

  IME added futures contracts to its tradable-contract framework.

  Aftermath

  Futures became one of the contract types available alongside spot, forward and credit transactions.

  Source

• 2007

  Merge the Tehran Metal Exchange and Iran Agricultural ExchangeM&A

  Background

  Iran’s organized metal and agricultural commodity markets were consolidated into a single national commodities exchange.

  Action taken

  The two predecessor exchanges were combined on 20 September 2007 to establish IME.

  Aftermath

  The merger created an exchange spanning agricultural, industrial, mineral, oil and petrochemical products.

  Source

1. 1Iran Mercantile Exchangeen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Iran Mercantile Exchange official websiteime.co.ir