Singapore, 29 September 2010

Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) today announced that it plans to list the world‟s first Iron Ore Futures Contract, settled basis the Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index.

The Metal Bulletin Iron Ore Index (MBIOI) utilises daily price data from a broad spectrum of industry participants and through leading independent Chinese steel consultancy and data provider Shanghai Steelhome‟s widespread contact base of steel producers and iron ore traders across China. MBIOI‟s tie-up makes it the world‟s only index to-date with access to such data from a major Chinese partner. The MBIOI is a tonnage-weighted calculation of actual physical transactions, normalised to 62% Fe, CFR Qingdao and is published daily at mid-day London time.

Mr. Thomas J. McMahon, Chief Executive Officer of SMX, said: “This partnership with Metal Bulletin is indicative of our diligence towards collaborative listings with key industry participants. It is especially strategic, given that China is the world‟s largest importer of iron ore and Shanghai Steelhome‟s data feed. The futures market for iron ore and iron ore spot market have only recently begun to take shape and as such, both are in need of a firm reference-price mechanism. SMX is stepping into that space in the markets via a robust index upon which effective price hedging can be conducted with a strong measure of certainty.”

Mr. Raju Daswani, Managing Director of Metal Bulletin, said: “As the market leader in metals reporting globally, Metal Bulletin has been reporting prices in the iron ore markets for close to a century. With a shift to short term pricing, SMX‟s decision to work with our Iron Ore Index as a basis for global benchmarking is a logical move and another significant breakthrough for the iron ore industry.”

Singapore Mercantile Exchange is a pan-Asian multi-product commodity and currency derivatives exchange situated in Singapore. It offers a comprehensive platform for trading a diversified basket of commodities including futures and options contracts on precious metals, base metals, agriculture commodities, energy, currencies and indices.

SMX offers market participants the benefits of market transparency, time zone convenience, price discovery and benchmarking, price risk management and multiple connectivity options. Counterparty clearing and settlement risk is effectively managed through its clearing house, the Singapore Mercantile Exchange Clearing Corporation.

The regulator of Singapore‟s financial markets – the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) – has granted SMX "Approved Exchange" status since 2010.

SMX is backed by the world‟s leading creator of exchanges - Financial Technologies (India) Limited - which has successfully established 10 exchanges across India, Dubai, Singapore, Africa, Mauritius and Bahrain.

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More information is available at www.smx.com.sg