The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) has prioritised trading of steel with the CIS members of the Interexchange Electronic Union (IEU) after becoming a member of the union last November, an IME spokesman tells Kallanish.

Iran hopes to begin trading products through the IEU in the fourth quarter. Besides IME, the union comprises eight other commodity exchanges in Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, as well as commodity distribution systems in Armenia, Belarus and Iran. The extent of IME’s involvement could, however, depend on any potential easing of international sanctions on Iran following a nuclear deal with the West.

Asked by how much IME expects steel trading to increase as a result of its IEU membership, and what system will be used to pay for transactions, the IME spokesman says: “In the first phase [trade] will not be too high in order to [ascertain] evaluations and estimations, but it will be developed for sure and at this moment steel products are within the priorities.”

Iran’s three largest steel producers, Mobarakeh Steel, Khouzestan Steel and Esfahan Steel, regularly sell their products on IME. Earlier this month Mobarakeh offered 57,000 tonnes of plate at INR 16.7 million ($589), 4,500t of hot-dip galvanized coil, 5,000t of cold rolled coil and 2,500t of tinplate on the exchange. Iron ore, coke and scrap are also traded on IME.

“IME's membership of the IEU is a step forward in the internationalization of both the country's commodity exchange and capital market,” IME head Hossein Panahian said last month.