The Yangshan copper premium – which is paid on top of the benchmark London Metal Exchange cash copper price – has been launched as the first in a series of commodity prices under the “Yangshan Price” banner, designed by the Shanghai Free Trade Zones to develop the Yangshan bonded area into a bulk commodity trading platform. As China’s first physical price for nonferrous metal in bonded areas, the Yangshan copper premium will be published on authoritative and independent platforms including Bloomberg and Xinhua 08. Up to 63 leading commodity enterprises have established divisions in Yangshan port, with a combined registered capital of CNY3.5 billion, laying a solid foundation for the port to develop broader futures delivery businesses, said Wang Xinling, Deputy Director of the Management Committee of the Shanghai Free Trade Zones. “The launch of the Yangshan Price will create closer links between the domestic and international market, and help Chinese bulk commodities enterprises gain more of a say in international pricing,” said Chen Quanxun, Chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association. Fan Xin, President of the Shanghai Metals Market website, a leading metals information provider, said: “The release of the Yangshan copper premium is backed by the rapid growth in copper imports and exports via Yangshan port, as well as huge inventories in the port.” Around USD10 billion worth of electrolytic copper was imported through the Shanghai Free Trade Zones in 2012, accounting for a third of the nation’s total imports. It is expected the Yangshan Price will become a benchmark with international influence on copper trading in the future, said Wang. Shanghai will add 80,000 to 90,000 square meters of storage capacity for metals by the middle of this year to the existing 50,000 sq m, the China Daily reports.