On February 26, Dalian Commodity Exchange (Abbr. DCE.) issued a notice to allow overseas individual customers to participate in iron ore futures trading, which was officially implemented from the date of the announcement.
The relevant person in charge of the DCE. said that on May 4, 2018, iron ore futures officially bring in foreign traders. In the initial stage of international business implementation, overseas individual customers are temporarily not allowed to open an account. In the past one year, iron ore futures have remained stable, and the market size and liquidity have been sufficient. The correlation between futures prices and the Platts index has remained above 90%. From the perspective of international business development, as of February 26, a total of 118 companies from Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, other countries and regions opened accounts, and the turnover of overseas customers also increased steadily. At the same time, the settlement of foreign currency funds was smooth, and the work of deposits-withdrawals and exchanges were carried out in an orderly manner; overseas customers successfully completed physical delivery in Dalian Port (601880) through bonded delivery. It can be said that the internationalization system of the exchange has been tested by the market, also has the conditions for introducing overseas individual customers.
Regarding how overseas individual customers participate in iron ore futures trading, the leader said that in the way of opening an account, the overseas individual customer is consistent with the corporate customer, by directly opening an account or transferring the commission. Due to the uniqueness of the transaction code, overseas clients who open accounts in two ways or foreign clients who open accounts in different overseas brokerage institutions may not conduct futures trading through the same futures company. In terms of market access, overseas individual customers also need to have certain trading conditions. The account opening institution shall evaluate the knowledge level, trading experience, available funds, compliance and integrity of overseas individual customers according to the entry requirements of ‘Dalian Commodity Exchange Specific Trader Appropriateness Management Measures’, and apply for transaction codes for overseas customers who meet the relevant requirements. Overseas individual customers should comprehensively assess their economic strength, market and product cognition, risk control and affordability, and carefully decide whether to participate in specific futures trading to avoid accidental losses due to blind entry.
Relevant market participants said that China's iron ore futures market has sufficient scale and liquidity as well as good hedging and investment value, which is also attractive to overseas corporate customers and individual customers. Along with the vigorous promotion of China's iron ore futures in overseas markets, more and more overseas individual customers have expressed strong interest in iron ore futures trading, hoping to participate in market transactions as soon as possible. The introduction of iron ore futures to overseas individual customers will expand the participation of overseas markets, which possesses positive significance for enriching the types of participants in the iron ore futures market, increasing the international influence of iron ore futures prices, and deepening the opening up of the futures market.

2月26日，大连商品交易所（以下简称“大商所”）发布通知，允许境外个人客户参与铁矿石期货交易，自通知发布之日起正式实施。
大商所相关负责人表示，2018年5月4日，铁矿石期货正式引入了境外交易者。在国际化业务实施初期，境外个人客户暂不允许开户交易。近一年来，铁矿石期货整体保持稳健运行，市场规模和流动性充足，期货价格与普氏指数相关性保持90%以上。从国际化业务开展情况看，截至2月26日，共有来自香港、新加坡、英国、澳大利亚、日本等国家地区的118家企业开户，境外客户成交持仓量也稳步增长。同时，外币资金结算顺畅，出入金和换汇工作有序开展；境外客户顺利通过保税交割的方式在大连港(601880)完成实物交割。可以说，交易所各项国际化制度已得到市场检验，具备引入境外个人客户的条件。
关于境外个人客户如何参与铁矿石期货交易，该负责人介绍，在开户方式上境外个人客户与企业客户一致，可以通过直接开户和转委托的两种方式开户。由于交易编码的唯一性，同时采取两种方式开户的境外客户或者在不同境外经纪机构开户的境外客户，不得通过同一家期货公司进行期货交易。在市场准入上，境外个人客户同样需要具备一定交易条件。开户机构需根据《大连商品交易所特定品种交易者适当性管理办法》中对于交易者的准入要求，对境外个人客户的知识水平、交易经历、可用资金、合规诚信等内容进行评估，并为符合相关要求的境外客户申请交易编码。境外个人客户应当全面评估自身经济实力、市场及产品认知能力、风险控制与承受能力，审慎决定是否参与特定品种期货交易，避免由于盲目入市而带来意外损失。
相关市场人士表示，我国铁矿石期货市场规模和流动性充足，具备良好的避险和投资价值，对于境外企业客户和个人客户同样具有吸引力。随着我国铁矿石期货在境外市场的大力推广，越来越多的境外个人客户对铁矿石期货交易表达了浓厚兴趣，希望尽早参与市场交易。此次铁矿石期货引入境外个人客户将拓展境外市场参与度，对于丰富铁矿石期货市场参与者类型、提高铁矿石期货价格的国际影响力、深化期货市场对外开放具有积极意义。