Titan Petrochemicals Group plans market to trade spot petrochemical contracts

China's largest oil-supertanker owner Titan Petrochemicals Group plans to set up a market to trade spot petrochemical contracts in the nation's south this year. Trading will start with fuel oil and liquid chemical products. Titan Petrochemicals will hold a 70% stake in the exchange, worth an investment of 60 million yuan.

(HK$62.02 mln), while Guangzhou-based Nansha Assets Management Corp will own 30%. The exchange will further reinforce Guangzhou as an oil and petrochemical hub for south China.

This will be China's third oil exchange. Dalian Petroleum Exchange started trading oil-product spot contracts on July 25, almost a year after the Shanghai Petroleum Exchange commenced operations. The bourses aim to set benchmark prices for energy commodities in China. Shanghai Petroleum Exchange started trading in toluene, styrene and diethylene glycol, used in the production of plastics, in March, expanding from the fuel oil contracts it started offering last August. Dalian Petroleum Exchange will mainly trade fuel oil, bitumen and chemical products, Shanghai Securities News said on July 26, citing general manager Zhou Peiliang.