Credit: PD Photo

Though 2011 showed a comparatively low future for silver and gold, the new year has an optimistic future and options for Chinese investors.

China, the biggest consumer of diverse commodities, has triggered its efforts to strengthen its pricing power which will eventually shake commodity prices in the international market and change the trends.

Its keenly governed futures exchanges, which have minimal access to foreign companies or firms, are not yet successful in matching China’s humongous buying volume and demand as well.

Thus, the situation is ideal for introducing several new futures contracts or ventures this year, mainly in the market of crude oil and silver.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange is all set to start the very first silver futures contracts this year. Silver, along with all the other major non-ferrous metals such as copper, aluminium, zinc, and lead, would be traded at the Shanghai Futures Exchange.

The silver futures are expected to boost the non-ferrous metal market and make China a major player in pricing. But, newer monopolies and conglomerates in the international mining sector make Chinese companies be on the back foot while negotiating prices.