ARMEN KHANYAN: IT IS NECESSARY TO ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT EXCHANGE TRADING

Despite the spread of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19, the mineral fertilizers trading sets new records

Thus, for the first four months of 2020, 22 464 tons of mineral fertilizers were sold at the stock exchange of the Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX), new record figure was reached, and the volume was more than twice figures for the whole of 2019 (10 894 tons).

Furthermore, the number of regions where goods are sold from manufacturers' bases is expanding. In 2020, mineral fertilizers were sold for the first time from manufacturers' bases located in Bryansk, Voronezh, Kirov, Kursk, Lipetsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Rostov, Sverdlovsk and Tambov regions, Primorsky (Vladivostok) and Stavropol Territories, as well as in the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. SPIMEX cooperates fruitfully with the FAS Russia, the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia and the Russian Fertilizers Producers Association (RFPA).

"In developing and popularizing the exchange trade of mineral fertilizers, we are guided by the tasks set by the National Competition Development Plan. Since February 2020, the joint Order of the FAS Russia and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia has come into force, setting the minimum volume of exchange sales of fertilizers. The growth observed in the volume of exchange sales creates conditions for the formation of representative indicators of the price for this product. It is necessary to encourage and support exchange trading, as it makes the process of selling goods transparent and eliminates abuse" - said Armen Khanyan, Head of the Department for Regulation over Fuel-and-Energy Complex and Chemical Industry of the FAS Russia.

"The exchange market of mineral fertilizers, which was launched at the SPIMEX in a pilot mode at the end of 2017, has now become one of the most dynamically developing. The practice of exchange sales shows that the indices obtained at the auction of physical goods are more effective as a tool for market pricing, compared to those currently used in the world market of mineral fertilizers: futures with a prevailing share of financial speculators or various survey methods for determining prices," - said Alexey Ryzhikov, Managing Director of SPIMEX.

Notwithstanding the slowdown in business activity in the context of the pandemic, the growing demand for mineral fertilizers at SPIMEX demonstrates the relevance of exchange trading as a stable channel for selling and purchasing products in response to coronavirus infection.

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The Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) organizes exchange trades in the markets of petroleum products, oil, gas, LHCG, timber and construction materials, mineral fertilizers, as well as in the futures market. SPIMEX implements the task of creating a transparent mechanism of formation of fair prices for Russian goods. The Exchange was established in may 2008.

In total at the moment about 90 delivery basises located in 30 regions of the Russian Federation are registered at the Exchange and almost all producers of mineral fertilizers in the country participate in the auction.