Once already this year traders in London have been dragged out of bed at 1am when copper plunged in Shanghai. That could happen more often and to more drowsy Londoners as SHFE adds two new contracts — nickel and tin — that were long the preserve of the London Metal Exchange only.
伦敦的交易员今年已经有过一次在凌晨1点上海的铜价骤跌时被叫起床的经历了。如果上海期货交易所(SHFE，见右图)再增加两种新期货合约——镍和锡——的话，之前那种情况可能会更加频繁地、发生在更多睡眼惺忪的伦敦交易员身上。很长时间以来这两种金属期货仅在伦敦金属交易所(LME)交易。
Metals volumes on the SHFE, which was launched in 1999, have been increasing over the past few years.
上海期货交易所成立于1999年，最近几年该交易所上市交易的金属期货品种不断增加。

Last week’s launch of the new contracts takes its offerings in industrial metals to six, equal to those traded on the LME, the world’s largest centre of metals trading. The LME was bought by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing for £1.4bn in 2012.
上周新推出的两种金属期货合约，使上海期货交易所交易的工业金属增至6种，与LME交易的金属数量相同，后者是世界最大的金属交易中心。2012年，LME被香港交易及结算所有限公司(Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing，简称港交所)以14亿英镑收购。
Many traders believe the SHFE has now taken its place alongside New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex and the LME as a key price centre for the world’s metals trade.
很多交易商相信，上海期货交易所如今已经与纽约商业交易所(NYMEX)旗下的纽约商品交易所(Comex)、以及LME并驾齐驱，成为全球金属交易的关键价格中心。
Do we really care about SHFE, or Chinese exchanges for that matter?
就这个问题而言，我们真的在乎上海期货交易所或中国各家交易所吗？
Daily liquidity on SHFE is surpassing that of the LME and Comex put together. The highest monthly trading volumes for copper and zinc last year were on the SHFE, according to Macquarie.
上海期货交易所的日均成交量即将超越LME和Comex的总和。麦格理(Macquarie)称，去年期铜和期锌的月度成交量最高值均出自上海期货交易所。
Chinese futures contracts were also the top four most traded metals contracts in the world last year, according to the Futures Industry Association. SHFE’s steel rebar contracts were the most traded, with volume up 38.9 per cent to a record level of 408m contracts. Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity exchange came in third.
美国期货业协会(Futures Industry Association)表示，去年全世界成交量最大的4个金属合约也都是中国的。上海期货交易所的螺纹钢期货合约也是成交量最大的，成交量增长了38.9%，至创纪录水平的4.08亿手。大连商品交易所(Dalian Commodity exchange)的铁矿石期货交易量位列第三。
Who trades on it?
谁在这里交易？
Chinese futures companies and funds as well as foreign companies which have wholly-owned subsidiaries in China can also trade on the exchange through domestic brokers. Chinese smelters use the SHFE price as a basis to sell material to end users. With China being the world’s largest metals consumer, prices on the SHFE give a key indication of the state of the domestic market.
除了中国的期货公司和基金公司，在华拥有全资子公司的外国公司，也可以通过国内经纪商在上海期货交易所进行交易。中国的冶炼厂把该交易所的价格作为向终端用户出售材料的基准。随着中国成为世界最大的金属消费国，上海期货交易所的价格成为反映国内市场状况的关键指标。
OK, volumes are big, but can the SHFE prices affect international markets?
好吧，就算成交量很大，但是上海期货交易所的价格能影响国际市场吗？
The price difference, or spread between the SHFE and LME, is closely watched, allowing traders and investors with access to various exchanges to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities.
上海期货交易所与LME之间的价格差异（价差）受到密切关注，让同时拥有多家交易所交易渠道的交易商和投资者能够进行套利。
The introduction of night trading to the SHFE in late 2013 allows trading at the same time as exchanges in the US and Europe, giving Chinese funds and traders greater ability to influence the global price. It also allows instant arbitrage, the simultaneous buying and selling of different contracts to take advantage of price discrepancies.
2013年下半年上海期货交易所推出了夜盘，使得与美国和欧洲同时段交易成为可能，让中国的基金公司和交易商对全球价格有了更大影响力。该交易所还允许实时套利，即同时进行不同合约的买卖以此利用差价获利。
Does pricing on the SHFE impact international physical flows?
上海期货交易所的价格走势会影响国际现货流动吗？
Yes, the SHFE price influences physical movement of metal into and out of China. Physical metals traders respond to the difference between the LME and SHFE price to book contracts.
没错，上海期货交易所的价格会影响金属现货进出中国的情况。金属现货交易商根据LME和上海期货交易所的价差来签订合约。
What does this mean for foreign investors?
这对外国投资者来说意味着什么？
At the end of last year, China’s securities regulator started a public consultation on foreign investors being able to trade Chinese futures contracts.
在去年年底，中国证券监管机构就是否应允许外国投资者交易中国期货合约启动了公开意见征询。
A crude oil contract will be the first one available to foreigners to trade directly and is likely to start this year. It will be run by a subsidiary of SHFE in the Shanghai free-trade zone.
原油合约将成为第一个外国人可以直接交易的期货合约，很可能将从今年开始。该业务将由上海期货交易所设在上海自贸区的子公司负责。
Still, it may take time to build up confidence, since according to metals market participants one advantage of the LME is investors can rely on the UK legal system to settle contracts, which gives greater security.
不过，获得投资者的信赖可能还需要时间，因为金属市场参与者表示，LME的优势之一就在于投资者可以依靠英国的法律制度来完成合约，这样提供了更大的安全性。