The planned Shanghai nonferrous metals trading center has received the go-ahead from authorities.
The trading center will be established within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and is expected to start operating in the first quarter of this year.
The trading center will only include spot trading --- no futures.
China has been the largest consumer of some nonferrous metals including copper and aluminum for nearly a decade.
However, the country has had little pricing power over these commodities on the global market until recently when shrinking demand from China depressed the prices of some nonferrous metals to record lows.
On the domestic market, nonferrous mining has also taken a hit due to the low global prices.
