WILTON, UK - In response to the ongoing supply and liquidity contraction evident for some period across the global industry in TiO2, the commodity in a number of variants is now formally listed for live trade on INSCX exchange (The Integrated Nano-Science & Commodity Exchange).

While medium- to long-term supply constraints exist in brand grades from prominent and long established global suppliers, INSCX exchange lists these established grades, albeit bid only given the current impasse. To compensate, the exchange also lists for live trade, firm two-way prices in grades of the oxide produced by supply sources in Asia, the region of the globe where significant production capacity has both migrated and emerged in recent years.

Customers using the exchange are assured material quality given the formal inspection and materials characterization process to establish material good quality as a condition of trade settlement. The inspection process used by INSCX is conducted using the expertise of Intertek Plc, one of the world’s largest materials measurement and characterization agencies.

The purpose of INSCX is to restore clarity and vision to supply and purchasing interest in materials traditionally non-exchange listed, permitting transactions to be cash or forward settled. A dealer commented, “What is witnessed in the TiO2 market is not unique to this material, where there are issues affecting the availability of supply that will ease in due course, but in many materials where pricing, supply clarity and quality assurance have become impossible to obtain. Buyers in TiO2 and other materials require clarity and the ability to hedge against future adverse pricing shock. These are among the basic functions of the organized commodity market. The fact the exchange enables anonymous trade with disclosure only of price, quantity and material means suppliers can also benefit from using the mechanism.”

What the INSCX process of trade clearing and settlement guarantees is delivery versus payment supported by the insistence that any material traded through the exchange will be independently checked to establish its quality.

To register to use the exchange, suppliers and buyers can use the online registration link at www.comdaq.net/comdaqnet.asp?calledsite=INSCX.  

Trade prices are displayed live on the Open Trade Order Routing System (TORS) during live market hours 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. GMT and 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. EST covering the North American market. Trade inquiries can be submitted electronically, routed to the dealing desk online or via customercare@inscx.com where buyers can accept offer prices from suppliers or counter-bid. The actual process of trade is voice brokered between parties by the specialist dealing team at NCM/Stekram Limited and confirmed through issuance of a formal contract note to buyer and seller.