Qianhai Mercantile Exchange (QME) has recently entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Beijing Antaike Information Co Ltd (Antaike) that starting from 6 May 2019, Antaike would include QME’s daily alumina regional benchmark price in Antaike’s daily alumina spot price quotes at a ratio of 5% initially and gradually increasing over time.
 

Antaike is a leading enterprise in China's non-ferrous metal consulting service industry, focusing on analysis and research in the production, consumption, market, management, and policies of the non-ferrous metal industry.  The price index it publishes is widely recognized and used in the industry in Mainland China.

QME officially launched alumina spot trading on 19 October 2018 and the main transaction mode was producer warrant listing.  As of 30 April 2019, the cumulative transaction volume has amounted to 226,000 tonnes, and the physical settlement was 189,000 tonnes.  Participants include upstream alumina production enterprises, large domestic and foreign traders, downstream electrolytic aluminium plants, etc.

As one of the three major domestic alumina spot quotation platforms, Antaike adopts QME’s alumina benchmark price, showing that QME’s alumina has an increasing influence on the price after its debut/is increasingly serving as a price setter/is increasingly playing a role in price setting.  In the days to come, QME will continue to build the benchmark price of alumina in RMB, and explore ways to financialise and internationalise price indices by leveraging HKEX Group’s role in connecting the domestic and foreign regions and its abundant resources, so as to serve local and foreign customers and enhance the influence of “Chinese prices” in the international market.