TEHRAN- During the past Iranian calendar week (ended on Friday), 940,000 tons of commodities worth 123 trillion rials (about $2.928 billion) were traded at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME).

As reported by the Public Relations and International Affairs Department of the IME, the previous week saw rise in trade volume and value of listed spot commodities with near 940,000 tons of underlying assets' trade.

The industrial trading floor of the exchange saw trade of 478,000 tons of steel sections and 94,000 tons of copper, aluminum, zinc ingots, iron ore, coking coal, and 16 kilograms of gold bar.

In the domestic petrochemical trade venue and the export ring, market participants traded 362 tons of polymers, vacuum bottom, bitumen, polymeric material, chemical products, lube cut, base oil, insulation rolls and sulfur.

The agriculture market of the IME sold 600 tons of dates and the side market of the exchange sold 4800 tons of non-exchange-listed commodities.

Total spot market volume within the period in question reached 940,000 tons worth $500 million showing 19 percent and 17 percent rise respectively compared to the week earlier.

As the market prepares to bid a farewell to the year 1399 in less than 15 days, trade activity is gaining momentum by traders and clients before the week-long holiday of the New Year. Therefore, the manufacturing units and plants are intensifying works of trade to secure as much commodity as they can afford for their stockpile as the hiatus is looming.

It's worth noting that, the IME transactions surpassed last year's trade figures in less than nine month of trade activity this year and is forecast to wrap up higher by 35 percent than the year earlier.

As previously reported, over 2,893 tons of commodities worth nearly $1.5 billion have been traded at IME during the tenth Iranian calendar month of Dey (December 21, 2020-January 19, 2021).

The exchange hosted trading of 1,176,000 tons of commodities with a trading value of more than $740 million on its mineral and industrial trading floor.

On this floor the IME sold 1,093,000 tons of steel, 5,160 tons of copper, 30 tons of precious metals concentrate, 480 tons of molybdenum concentrate, 15,955 tons of aluminum, 800 tons of coke, 20,500 tons of zinc dust, 40,000 tons of iron ore concentrate, 300 tons of cast iron and 54 kg of gold bars.

On its oil and petrochemical trading floor, the IME traded more than 1,707,000 tons of commodities worth nearly $749 million, which included 602,855 tons of various types of bitumen, 257,511 tons of polymeric products, 124,965 tons of chemicals, 6,300 tons of slop wax and 503,760 tons of vacuum bottom. Moreover, the exchange sold on this floor 11,825 tons of base oil, 69,725 tons of sulfur, 200 tons of argon and 129,000 tons of lube cut.

The next trading floor of the IME was agricultural with 10,500 kg of saffron sold on it.

Last but not least, the IME's side market saw trade of 9,510 tons of various types of commodities within the same month.

IME is one of the four major stock markets of Iran, the other three markets are Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE), Iran's over-the-counter (OTC) market known also as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB), and Iran Energy Exchange (IRENEX).