China's Bohai Commodity Exchange hopes to increase its influence on the pricing of iron ore with a plan to make yuan-denominated contracts available to overseas investors, but the latest effort to capitalize on the internationalization of the Chinese currency faces daunting hurdles.
中国渤海商品交易所(Bohai Commodity Exchange)计划向海外投资者推出以人民币计价的合约，希望以此加强对铁矿石定价的影响。该交易所这一最新举措是想借人民币国际化之机获益，不过却面临着巨大障碍。
Late last month, the People's Bank of China approved the Bohai bourse's application for the first cross-border commodity contract offered out of China, and the physical iron-ore contract is expected to make its debut in the first quarter, the exchange's Vice General Manager Zheng Yu recently told the Wall Street Journal.
渤海商品交易所副总经理郑宇最近告诉《华尔街日报》(Wall Street Journal)，上月底中国央行批准了该交易所的首个跨境商品交易合约，现货铁矿石合约预计将于第一季度推出。
Mr. Zheng said the exchange wants to target Australian investors at the outset, and then gradually expand its reach to target investors in South America, namely countries like Brazil, another key source of China's iron-ore imports.
郑宇表示，初期阶段交易所想把目标锁定为澳大利亚投资者，之后逐步扩展到南美投资者，也就是作为中国另一个重要铁矿石进口来源的巴西等国。
It will be as simple as opening a yuan account at an Australian branch of the Bank of China or China Merchants Bank and registering with the Bohai exchange, Mr. Zheng, said. This will position Australian miners, for example, to trade directly with buyers such as Chinese steel mills, he added.
郑宇说，投资者只需在中国银行(Bank of China)或招商银行(China Merchants Bank)的澳大利亚分行开个人民币帐户，并在渤海交易所注册一下，就这么简单。他说，这将使澳大利亚矿企得以直接与中国钢铁企业等买家交易。
But even Chinese steelmakers don't seem too excited about this prospect.
但就连中国钢企似乎也对这一前景并不感到太振奋。
'I doubt this Bohai contract will gain much traction because nearly all of China's iron-ore trade is settled in dollars, and there's little interest or incentive to settle in the yuan,' said an iron-ore manager at Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the listed unit of Baosteel Group, China's third-largest steelmaker by output.
宝山钢铁股份有限公司(Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., 简称：宝钢股份)一位铁矿石经理表示，他怀疑渤海的现货人民币结算交易能否做起来，因为中国的铁矿石交易几乎全部是以美元结算，人们对以人民币结算没有什么兴趣或动力。宝钢股份是中国以产量计第三大钢铁企业宝钢集团有限公司(Baosteel Group co.)的上市子公司。
Baoshan Iron and its iron-ore suppliers use the U.S. currency to settle their contracts, as it is the standard currency in global commodity trade, the company said. That is around $4 billion that Baoshan Iron spends on roughly 40 million tons a year of iron ore, the manager said.
该公司称，宝钢股份和铁矿石供应商使用美元结算，因为美元是全球大宗商品交易的标准货币。这位经理说，宝钢股份每年支付约40亿美元购买4,000万吨左右的铁矿石。
Australia accounts for two-thirds of China's iron-ore imports, which hit a record 77.84 million metric tons in November, and traders estimate the total for 2013 will be 800 million tons--valued at more than $107 billion based on current prices.
来自澳大利亚的铁矿石占到了中国铁矿石进口的三分之二。中国去年11月份的铁矿石进口量达到了创纪录的7,784万吨。交易员们估计，2013年全年的进口量将达到8亿吨，按当前价格计算，进口额超过1,070亿美元。
While Australian companies are likely to be studying the planned contract, people familiar with the largest miners say the Bohai exchange isn't likely to see a significant or swift uptake, as such companies like to trade in U.S. dollars to limit currency risk.
据了解大型矿商的人士称，虽然澳大利亚矿商可能会对拟推出的人民币计价合同进行研究，但渤海商品交易所不大可能看到企业迅速或大批采用这种新合同，因为这类公司偏好采用美元进行贸易结算，以控制汇兑风险。
Although the Chinese government is implementing financial reforms that in part will lead to increased use of the country's currency overseas, the yuan is currently being used to pay for just 0.8% of all global transactions, lagging currencies from much smaller economies, including Thailand and Sweden, according to a report from Swift last month.
虽然中国政府正在推行金融改革，这在一定程度上将导致人民币在海外的使用量增加，但Swift上个月公布的一份报告显示，去年10月份，作为全球支付货币，人民币使用量的占有率仍只有约0.8%，落后于泰国、瑞典等小得多经济体的货币。
Nevertheless, the yuan did recently overtake the euro and the yen to become the No. 2 currency used in global trade finance, the Swift report showed, with importers and exporters using China's currency for 8.7% of their financing agreements with trade partners in October.
不过报告也显示，人民币近期已赶超欧元和日圆，成为全球第二大常用的国际贸易融资货币。2013年10月份，人民币在全球贸易融资活动中的使用量占比跃升至约8.7%。
Even the Bohai exchange's Mr. Zheng recognizes that the new contract faces a significant hurdle in becoming a global benchmark given that global miners and steel mills settle their trades each month with reference to a well-established iron-ore index provided by pricing firm Platts.
就连郑宇也承认，目前全球矿商和钢铁企业每月参考已经得到业界认可的普氏(Platts)铁矿石价格指数来进行贸易结算，考虑到这一情况，新的人民币计价合同要成为一个全球基准仍面临很大障碍。
'There are different kinds of iron-ore products out there, and their [price] differences are changing constantly,' said Jessica Xu, an analyst with Metal Bulletin Research, which offers an iron-ore index in competition with Platts. 'An index can take those into account and reflect them, so it seems that [an iron-ore] index is more likely to fare well in the market.'
Metal Bulletin Research的分析师Jessica Xu说，铁矿石产品种类繁多，价差也不断变化。价格指数可以把这些因素都考虑进去并反映出来，所以看起来推出一只铁矿石价格指数更有可能在市场上吃得开。Metal Bulletin Research也发布了一只铁矿石价格指数，与普氏开展竞争。