Heading the financial iron ore team from Oslo, Norway is experienced commodity trader Kristian Thunes, formerly of Credit Suisse. Kristian has been involved in the iron ore derivatives market since its inception, and has filled various roles in developing derivatives trading desks in energy and commodities.
Also joining the financial iron ore team in Oslo are Richard Arnesen, Saurab Joshi and Salman Majid, all experienced brokers with backgrounds in commodity derivatives.
Benjamin Beng, an experienced commodity swaps broker formerly of Jefferies in Hong Kong will be based in Marex Spectron’s Singapore office.
The new desk complements Marex Spectron’s brokerage of physical products in the ferrous complex, and enhances Marex Spectron’s servicing capability across commodity markets.
Marex Spectron has a significant presence in global physical and financial metals markets and is a category-one, ring-dealing member of the London Metal Exchange as well as providing execution clearing services for COMEX and NYMEX products, exchange-traded and OTC precious metals products.
Kristian Thunes said: “Risk management in steel production is more relevant than ever, and we firmly believe in this team’s capabilities in providing tailor-made solutions for both hedging and physical requirements.”
At the heart of the steel making industry, the iron ore market has been fuelled by the tremendous growth in demand for steel products and industrial production. Seaborne trade of iron ore totalled over 1.1 billion metric tonnes in 2012. Sensitive to transport constraints, significant pricing volatility in the iron ore market has further incentivised market participants to hedge their production margins. A total of 109 million tonnes of iron ore swaps was cleared through SGX in 2012, while volumes for 2013 are expected to more than double on the back of strong demand and increased access for market participants. Meanwhile, the iron ore options market has grown exponentially since mid-2012, registering more than 4 million tonnes traded in June 2013 only.
Gordon Bennett, Managing Director and Global Head of Energy at Marex Spectron, said: “We are exceptionally proud of our new team, which complements our on-going efforts to capture the growth in the iron ore market and wider steel complex. This move also opens up new opportunities from a value chain perspective, as well as a further utilization of our physical brokerage capabilities.”
The major financial contract for iron ore is the CFR China (62% Fe Fines) Swap, settled in cash at the average of The Steel Index (TSI) iron ore reference price. The contract has seen exponential growth since its inception, and regularly sees in excess of 1 million metric tonnes traded daily. 90% of global swaps volumes are cleared through SGX AsiaClear in Singapore.
For more information about Marex Spectron or to arrange media interviews please contact Richard Lindsay on +44(0)20 7650 4091 or rlindsay@marexspectron.com.
For more information about working with Marex Spectron’s iron ore desk please contact Kristian Thunes, EVP – Head of Iron Ore Derivatives, on kthunes@marexspectron.com, or…
Oslo Iron Ore Derivatives: +47 2389 4218
Singapore Iron Ore Derivatives: +65 6413 0060
Singapore Physical Iron Ore: +65 6413 0055
Notes to editors:
About Marex Spectron
Marex Spectron is one of the world’s largest privately held brokers of financial instruments in the commodities sector and a leader in facilitating trade in physical energy products.
We are the conduit for clients transacting in raw materials and related derivatives. We do so efficiently, discretely and with confidence, on or off-exchange.
We provide liquidity in commodity markets that are frequently difficult for clients to access or that require specialist knowledge to navigate successfully.
We connect our clients to any of the world’s major commodity exchanges via state of the art networks. We provide a full suite of services to trading companies who need to outsource infrastructure and support operations.
We also broker financial futures and options, foreign exchange, fixed income and equity securities.
Our aim is to provide our clients with a global, integrated service that enables them to trade how they want to trade: by voice, on electronic platforms or through trading floors where possible.
Our clients are predominantly commodity producers and consumers, banks, hedge funds, asset managers, brokers, commodity trading advisors and professional traders.
We are members of the London Metal Exchange (where we are a Ring Dealer), the CME Group exchanges, ICE US, NYSE Liffe, ICE Futures and Eurex.
We are over 600 market professionals, headquartered in London with offices across Europe, North America and Asia.