IRENEX Trade Grows 27%

Energy carriers and commodities worth 609.96 trillion rials ($2.25 billion) were traded by Sep.22, up on the 481.55 trillion ($1.7b) handled in the corresponding period last year.

IRENEX is a commodity exchange where physical energy carriers (oil, gas, electricity) and commodity-based securities are traded.

As per IRENEX data, trade on the IRENEX internal trading floor weighed 1.174 million tons at the end of H1 -- up 5% in six months since the beginning of the fiscal year.

Despite subtle increase in volume, value of trade jumped in H1 thanks to the upsurge in international commodity prices.

Value of IRENEX deals on the internal floor increased 171%, rising from 40.78 trillion rials ($150m) in March to 110.5 trillion rials ($409m) as of Sep.22.

However, deals took a drubbing on the international trading floor, indicating decline in foreign investment in the energy market.

Trade volume plunged from 7.79 million tons at the end of fiscal 2020-21 to 2.63 million tons in the first six months of the current fiscal year, down more than 66%.

In value terms, however, deals dropped 19% worth 311.5 trillion rials ($115m) by Sept.22.

Without providing figures, IRENEX said the value of deals via the electricity floor increased 40% and 66% respectively in volume and value in H1 compared to H1 of previous fiscal year.

Derivative Market

In the derivative market, 12.6 million standard salaf contracts worth 176.66 trillion rials ($654m) changed hands, respectively showing 127% and 227% increases in volume and value in the yearlong period.  Salaf bonds were sold with minimum maturity of one year.

Standard parallel salaf is an Islamic contract similar to futures with the difference being that the total price should be paid in advance.

Light naphtha was the top traded item on the international floor, accounting for 29% of the total of IRENEX trade in H1. This was followed by liquefied gas with 23%.

On the internal floor, solvent 402 topped the list in H1, representing 22% of the total deals followed by natural gas condensate and methanol, respectively, accounting for 21% and 16% of deals conducted by domestic buyers.

IRENEX also hosted “Capacity Certificate” deals worth 7.5 trillion rials in H1 during which 465,164 certificates changed hands.

Capacity Certificate was first launched in February 2020 to improve electricity consumption. The certificates are tradable securities that customers buy based on the amount of power they need.

By doing so, customers give assurance that the required equivalent capacity is provided without undermining power supply for existing customers when they connect to the grid. Each certificate is backed by 1 kilowatt energy which buyers agree to supply.