FNA- The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) announced that around $225.8mln of various commodities weighting over 398,722 tons were traded in its domestic trading and exports halls in the past working week (Dec 31-Jan 05).

The IME said that over 229,403 tons of various oil and petrochemical products, including 84,260 tons of bitumen, 40,355 tons of polymer products, 57,500 tons of VB feed stock, 23,000 tons of lube cut-oil, 15,168 tons of chemical products, 6,420 tons of sulfur and 100 tons of insulation, 100 tons of argon and 2,500 tons of slaps waxes with the total value of $111mln were traded in its domestic and exports halls during the last week.

Moreover, 29,273 tons of various commodities, including 118 tons of feed barley, 1,000 tons of sugar, 9,250 tons of wheat, 14.187 tons of maize of meals 1,000 tons of rice and 3,800 tons of crude soybean oil with total worth of $10.5mln were traded by the customers in the agricultural trading hall of IME in last week.

Also, 140,025 tons of metal and mineral products, including, 132,065 tons of steel products, 4,330 tons of aluminum, 3,510 tons of copper, 120 tons of molybdenum concentrate and 3 Kg of gold bullion with the total value of 104mln were traded in the IME domestic and exports halls in the last week.

The IME was established on September 20, 2007 in accordance with article 95 of the new la of the Securities Market of the Islamic Republic of Iran and following the merger of the agricultural and metal exchanges of Tehran. The merger marked a new chapter in Iran capital market providing endless trading opportunities for the clients in and out of the country.

Various sectors of economy and national industry benefit from the exchange operation. The IME currently offers various services, including:

Performing as the first market providing access to the initial offering of the listed commodities in the IME,

Price discovery and price making for Iran's Over the Counter (OTC), secondary markets and the end users,

Providing venue for government sales and procurement purchases,

Providing Trading platform and user interface,

Providing Clearing & Settlement services

Risk management,

Technology services,

Training and education of the market participants.