Nickel futures internationalization window opens; Nanhua Futures supports overseas investors entering the market

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（Source: Pao Finance）

Recently, the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) issued an announcement stating that nickel futures and options contracts will be opened to international investors starting April 22, 2026 (the night of April 21 with continuous trading sessions). Nanhua Futures (603093.SH) will help overseas investors enter the market conveniently and share in China’s nickel futures market development opportunities.

Nickel, as one of the key raw materials used in the production of stainless steel and electric vehicle batteries, plays an important role in these two China’s economic pillar sectors. Nickel futures on the SHFE are among the base metal futures contracts with the strongest global liquidity and the most active trading. The contract is denominated in RMB, with 1 lot representing 1 ton; daily trading volume is typically between 200,000 and 400,000 lots, and when market volatility increases, it can break through one million lots even more easily. In terms of trading scale, SHFE nickel futures have become one of the core markets for global nickel pricing.

The first batch of tradable contracts are NI2605 and subsequent futures contracts (including options contracts with the above futures contracts as underlying assets). Qualified overseas special non-broker participants and overseas clients may use USD as margin, with a discount rate of 0.95. During daily settlement, the midpoint exchange rate of RMB announced by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System on the previous trading day is used as the benchmark price for mark-to-market valuation.

With the opening of the internationalization window, overseas clients can directly connect to the China nickel futures market with deep trading liquidity through Nanhua Futures’ existing overseas intermediary channels, leveraging the use of major international trading terminal platforms or API interfaces. This is the first time that the SHFE has introduced overseas participants through the overseas intermediary (OI) framework for a product, marking an important step forward in the internationalization process of China’s commodity futures market. At the same time, this initiative will also bring global investors opportunities for cross-market arbitrage and spread trading between the SHFE and international exchanges such as the CME, LME, and SGX. In the future, Nanhua Futures will continue to leverage its global service advantages to identify more trading opportunities for overseas investors.

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