De start van de handel in zilver futurecontracten in de beurs van Shanghai in China verliep zonder problemen. Hiermee gaat een volledig nieuwe markt open voor producenten, handelaars en beleggers in het Verre Oosten om hun papieren positie in het witte edelmetaal in te nemen.

(Bloomberg) — Silver Futures Start Trade in Shanghai for Producers, Investors Silver futures in China, the world’s second-biggest user, began trading today amid expectations for demand from producers seeking to manage their risks as well as investors aiming to protect their wealth. The September-delivery contract, the most-active, traded at 6,145 yuan per kilogram ($30.27 per ounce) at 9:41 a.m. on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. It was priced to start at 6,166 yuan, higher than silver’s close on the Comex yesterday as the price incorporates China’s 17 percent value-added tax on imports. The exchange, China’s second-largest commodity bourse by volume, aimed to help producers to hedge risks, Vice President Huo Ruirong said last week. The metal doubles as an industrial component used in solar panels, electronics and batteries as well as a protection of wealth that’s cheaper than gold. “As an industrial metal with currency characteristics, silver will attract a lot of investor demand, especially from retail investors,” said Wang Ying, analyst at Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. “This will probably be bullish.”