Orient Futures Singapore wins SHFE overseas intermediary status

Orient Futures International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. has secured Overseas Intermediary status from the Shanghai Futures Exchange, expanding its China market access as SHFE nickel opens to international participants. The approval strengthens the Singapore brokerage’s reach across Chinese commodity venues and gives institutional clients broader trading and hedging routes.

Why it matters: - The SHFE approval expands Orient Futures Singapore’s direct access to China’s derivatives market for institutional and professional clients. - SHFE nickel opening to international participants creates a new channel for global investors to hedge nickel exposure against onshore Chinese prices. - The move also increases opportunities for arbitrage between China and overseas nickel benchmarks.

What happened: - Orient Futures International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. received Overseas Intermediary status for the Shanghai Futures Exchange, effective April 22, 2026. - The approval gives Orient Futures Singapore OI status on four major Chinese commodity exchanges. - SHFE nickel opened to international participants through the Internationalised and Qualified Foreign Investor routes.

The details: - Overseas Intermediary status allows Orient Futures Singapore to provide international clients with direct access to trading, clearing and settlement for internationalised futures contracts listed for Chinese commodities. - The firm already held OI status with the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange. - Orient Futures Singapore provides institutional clients access to all six Chinese futures exchanges under the Qualified Foreign Investor scheme, including the Guangzhou Futures Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange. - With SHFE included, the firm says it offers connectivity to more than 20 exchanges across six regions. - Orient Futures Singapore serves institutional and professional clients only. - Marcus Goi, CEO of Orient Futures Singapore, said the SHFE approval marks a milestone in strengthening China market access capabilities. - Goi said SHFE Nickel opening to international participants lets global investors take part more directly in China’s price discovery for industrial metals.

Between the lines: - The SHFE win completes another piece of Orient Futures Singapore’s China access strategy after prior approvals on INE, DCE and ZCE. - The timing matters because nickel is a key industrial metal, and cross-border access can deepen liquidity and sharpen price comparisons across markets. - The firm is positioning its China connectivity as part of a wider multi-exchange institutional brokerage offering rather than a single-market service.

What’s next: - International participants can now use both the Internationalised and QFI frameworks for SHFE nickel. - Orient Futures Singapore is likely to use the new status to broaden usage of its China derivatives access among institutional clients. - The company’s broader exchange network may remain a growth focus as it markets access to more than 20 exchanges worldwide.

The bottom line: - Orient Futures Singapore now has one of its broadest China market access footprints yet, with SHFE approval extending its reach across major commodity exchanges and into internationalised nickel trading.