Futures daily online news (reporter Zhao Bin) recently, Vale metals (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Vale") and Shandong Laigang Yongfeng iron and steel trading company (hereinafter referred to as "Laigang Yongfeng") signed a basis trade contract based on the iron ore futures price of DCE. Market participants said that this marked that the world's largest iron ore producer began to use China's iron ore futures price as a reference for trade pricing, and it was also the first time for overseas mines to use futures price to carry out basis trade, which is a milestone in promoting basis trade, optimizing pricing mechanism and improving China's price influence in the global iron ore market.

It is reported that the basis trade contract between vale and Laigang Yongfeng takes "futures price + basis" as the settlement price, the minerals are set as Brazilian mixed powder (BRBF), and the delivery place is Qianwan port, Qingdao. The two sides take the 2005 iron ore futures contract as the price benchmark, and determine the basis by referring to the domestic spot price difference and other factors. This time, the two sides adopted a typical seller bidding mode, Vale as the seller exercised the right of price point, and Laigang Yongfeng as the buyer locked the procurement cost by hedging in the futures market.

For overseas mines, the basis trade can be used to mark the price in RMB and sell the port spot based on the futures price without directly participating in the futures market, which is conducive to hedging the risk of price fluctuation and consolidating the trade relationship with downstream Chinese customers. "Basis trade is flexible and provides buyers and sellers with tools to manage price risk. With the increasing popularity of port trade and RMB pricing mode, the basis trade mode can enrich the spot trade pricing mode. " Vale said.

In fact, since 2015, Vale has tried to mix ore production and RMB spot sales in Chinese ports to further close to the Chinese market and meet the needs of end customers. In 2018, Vale sold 18 million tons of iron ore denominated in RMB. The use of futures price as a reference for spot sales is the first time that the world's largest iron ore producer uses China's iron ore futures price as a reference for trade pricing. It is also a new attempt of derivative pricing mode for overseas mines after long-term cooperative pricing and index pricing mode.

For domestic steel mills, through basis trade, they can get goods ahead of time and price flexibly to lock in costs and profits. Compared with the absolute price change, the fluctuation range of the basis is smaller, and carrying out the basis trade is conducive to reduce the transaction risk of steel enterprises. "Compared with the traditional long-term cooperation and Platts index pricing models, the pricing cycle of basis trade model is more flexible. Enterprises can choose the pricing cycle that meets their own needs, instead of the traditional long-term cooperation and index pricing model, which limits the cycle to a certain period of time. At the same time, the futures market provides an open, transparent and real-time price signal, which allows enterprises to dynamically manage transactions and inventories according to market changes, greatly reducing the risk of default. " Li Chao, general manager of Laigang Yongfeng, said.

According to relevant market participants, the price of iron ore futures is formed by a large number of industrial enterprises and investors through open trading, and the price formation mechanism is more open, transparent and fair, reflecting the supply and demand pattern of iron ore. In particular, after the internationalization of iron ore futures last year, it has been highly concerned by the overseas market, with overseas customers in 15 countries and regions, including Australia and Japan. Through the internationalization of iron ore futures, a representative global iron ore price benchmark denominated in RMB will be formed in China in the future, which will make China's buyer voice in the international market, enhance the international influence of China's price, and promote China's iron and steel industry to change from a passive price receiver to a price setting participant. In addition, with more domestic and foreign enterprises adopting the basis trade mode based on China's futures price, the proportion of RMB settlement and payment in the future international trade is expected to further improve, so as to promote the futures market to better serve the RMB internationalization.

淡水河谷首次涉足铁矿石基差贸易

期货日报网讯（记者 赵彬）近日，巴西淡水河谷金属（上海）有限公司（下称“淡水河谷”）与山东莱钢永锋钢铁贸易公司（下称“莱钢永锋”）签订了以大商所铁矿石期货价格为基准的基差贸易合同。市场人士表示，这标志着全球最大铁矿石生产商开始利用我国铁矿石期货价格作为参考进行贸易定价，也是境外矿山首次利用期货价格开展基差贸易，对于在全球铁矿石市场中推广基差贸易、优化定价机制和提高中国价格影响力具有里程碑式意义。

据悉，淡水河谷与莱钢永锋的基差贸易合同以“期货价格+基差”为结算价格，矿种设定为巴西混合粉（BRBF），交货地点为青岛前湾港。双方以大商所铁矿石期货2005合约为价格基准，参考国内期现货价差等因素确定基差。此次双方采用了典型的卖方叫价模式，淡水河谷作为卖方行使点价权，莱钢永峰作为买方通过在期货市场对冲的方式锁定采购成本。

对于境外矿山来说，通过基差贸易可以在不直接参与期货市场的前提下，以人民币计价、以期货价格为基准销售港口现货，有利于对冲价格波动风险、巩固与下游中国客户的贸易关系。“基差贸易具有灵活性，为买卖双方提供了管理价格风险的工具。随着港口贸易和人民币计价方式的日益普及，基差贸易模式可以丰富现货贸易定价方式。”淡水河谷相关负责人说。

实际上，2015年以来，淡水河谷尝试在中国港口进行混矿生产和人民币现货销售，以进一步贴近中国市场，满足终端客户的需求。2018年，淡水河谷以人民币计价结算的铁矿石销售量达到1800万吨。此次使用期货价格为参考进行现货销售，是全球最大的铁矿石生产商首次利用我国铁矿石期货价格作为参考进行贸易定价，也是境外矿山继长协定价、指数定价模式之后，对衍生品定价模式的全新尝试。

对国内钢厂来说，通过基差贸易可以提早拿货、灵活定价，以锁定成本和利润。相比于绝对价格变化，基差波动幅度更小，开展基差贸易有利于钢企减少交易风险。“相比于传统的长协、普氏指数定价等模式，基差贸易模式的定价周期更加灵活，企业可以选择符合自身需求的定价周期，不必像传统长协及指数定价模式，将周期限定于某一个时间段内。同时，期货市场提供了公开透明和实时的价格信号，让企业根据市场变化动态管理交易和库存，大幅降低违约风险。”莱钢永锋总经理李超表示。

相关市场人士介绍，铁矿石期货价格由大量产业企业和投资者公开交易形成，价格形成机制更为公开透明和公允，反映铁矿石供需格局。尤其去年铁矿石期货国际化后，得到了境外市场的高度关注，境外客户遍布澳大利亚、日本等15个国家和地区。通过铁矿石期货国际化，未来将在中国形成以人民币计价、具有全球代表性的铁矿石价格基准，在国际市场发出中国的买方声音，提升中国价格的国际影响，推动我国钢铁行业从价格被动接受者转变为价格制定参与者。此外，随着更多境内外企业采用以中国期货价格为基准的基差贸易模式，未来国际贸易中人民币结算和支付比例有望进一步提升，推动期货市场更好地服务于人民币国际化。