This exchange guide introduces you to the Integrated Nano-Science Commodity Exchange (INSCX). We begin with explaining what services the exchange offers, and what products they sell.
Contents
Then, we go into detail about the brief history of the company, how the INSCX works, and how they collaborate with suppliers, partners, and member traders.
Read on to find out more about the offerings and membership types of INSCX.
What Is The INSCX?
The Integrated Nano-Science & Commodity Exchange (INSCX) is a self-regulated commodity exchange devoted to trading a wide range of nanomaterials and nano-enabled commodities.
The exchange also trades other commodities.
The opening of INSCX was a significant event in the evolution of commodities markets.
Nanomaterials are the crucial building blocks of many important technologies in diverse areas such as drug delivery, regenerative medicine, diagnostics, electronics, cosmetics, textiles, information technology and environmental protection.
Why Is The INSCX A Game Changer?
For the first time, INSCX allowed buyers and sellers to trade nanomaterials in the same manner as more traditional commodities such as agricultural products, energy, and metals.
The goal of INSCX is to be the focal point of the emerging world trade in nanomaterials, a trade that will be crucial to continuing world prosperity in the 21st century.
What Is Nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is the term for the design and construction of items whose use depends on construction at the nanoscale.
This is generally defined as being 100 nanometers (100 millionths of a millimeter or 100 billionths of a meter) or less.
Nanotechnology encompasses devices or systems made by manipulating individual atoms or molecules, as well as items which contain very small structures.
Examples of nanomaterials include basic raw materials such as carbons and metal oxides and high-end, processed goods such as photonics and programmable matter.
Why Is INSCX an Important Exchange?
The founding of INSCX and the commoditization of nanomaterials is a significant achievement for at least three reasons:
- Transparency and Liquidity: Both buyers and sellers in the marketplace benefit from an organized marketplace for transacting business.
- Security: Commoditization offers buyers assurances that the nanomaterials they are purchasing conform to pre-determined standards and sellers assurances that they will be paid for providing these materials.
- Scalability: An organized commodity market means buyers can easily procure nanomaterials in much larger quantities than they could without an organized market.
What Doors Could The INSCX Open?
The availability of large amounts of inexpensive raw materials could facilitate research, development and mass production of a new generation of nanotechnology products that could improve the lives of many people.
Essentially, the opening of INSCX could usher in an age of affordable and ubiquitous nanotechnology.
What Products Does INSCX Trade?
INSCX lists the following products for trading on its exchange. All products are traded for physical delivery:
| Category | Products | Terms for Quotation | Market Facts |
|---|---|---|---|
Nanomaterials | The types of available nanomaterial products are:
| Quoted on a single and/or multiple producer basis. | Products are:
|
Polymers | Physical polymers for EU delivery. | Quoted the following ways:
| These products are quoted by chemical family in polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) types. |
EMEA Base Oils | EMEA Group I, Group II and Group III Base Oils. | Spot and contract | Quoted on a Baltic, Black-sea, Med and Turkish port basis. |
Titanium Dioxide  | Primary Chinese producer rutile and anatase grades. | Spot and fixed-term |
|
INSCX conducts trading electronically on its physical dealing platform.
INSCX As A Company: Good-To-Knows
INSCX is based in the United Kingdom. The exchange operates live trading markets during UK and North American hours of business.
Over the past two decades, the emerging importance of engineered nanomaterials in industry led to a collaboration between experts in nanoscience and the securities industry.
The need to procure these materials in large quantities and in a reliable manner made the creation of an exchange a logical endeavor, and in 2009, INSCX was founded.
Merger With The NanoCentral® Alliance of Specialist Providers
In 2010, INSCX joined the NanoCentral® Alliance of Specialist Providers in nanoscience. In 2010 and 2011, the exchange was featured at several nanomaterials conferences.
INSCX has played a key role in engaging industry leaders and governmental agencies interested in nanotechnology.
Since 2009, the exchange has remained active in forums determining standards for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs).
INSCX was an original member of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Nanomaterials Stakeholder Forum. In 2010, Lloyds of London commissioned INSCX to produce a report on the insurability of nanomaterials.
How Do INSCX Stakeholder Partnerships Work?
INSCX forms working partnerships with organizations that are concerned with the reliable delivery of accredited and compliant nanomaterials.
The ecosystem of interested parties includes ENM buyer, sellers, regulation agencies and experts that help ensure the integrity of the products being traded.
The exchange believes that its successful operation relies on:
a spirit of collaboration between interlocking and competing interests.
What Does The INSCX Provide Its Partners?
INSCX strives to create a cohesive working relationship with both producers and downstream consumers of nanotechnologies.
The exchange offers purchasers a structured and organized way to fabricate items using ENMs and sellers a way to supply these commodities.
Because nanomaterials have different physical and delivery characteristics than traditional commodities, INSCX employs experts in fields such as materials characterization, EHS toxicology, and nanomaterials track/trace.
How Does INSCX Work With Regulators?
INSCX employs a unique track/trace mechanism for keeping records of trades in ENMs.
The mechanism, which is called Downstream Audit Sequencing (DAS), records each ENM trade executed and/or reported through the exchange.
This enables INSCX to sequence each batch of materials from its source through to the end of the supply chain.
INSCX informs regulators in the UK and US of these procedures and believes they provide a way to provide real-time trade reporting of ENMs on a national and regional scale.
What Is INSCX NANOGUARd?
INSCX also incorporates a system called NANOGUARd to supplement the DAS track/trace system. NANOGUARd was developed at Ireland’s University of Limerick Business School.
It functions as a comprehensive software tool for informing regulators and insurers about the risk profile of specific ENMs.
NANOGUARd uses the statistical modeling technique of Bayesian networks to quantify the risks associated with the commercial uptake of ENMs.
What Are The Benefits Of NANOGUARd?
Ultimately, this tool could aid with risk mitigation and provide both regulators and insurance companies with more transparency about the risks of nanotechnology transactions.
INSCX works with standards institutes such as the UK British Standards Institute (BSI), International Standards Organization (ISO), official regulation agencies and other participants in the ENM supply chain.
The goal of the exchange is to develop industry standards for supplying, tracking, and regulating the purchase and sale of nanomaterials.
What Types Of Memberships Does INSCX Offer?
INSCX categorizes its members into four different groups:
| Type of Membership | Description | Annual Cost 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial Members | £10,000 | |
| Commercial Users | £2,500 | |
| Merchants | £20,000 per Merchant | |
| Associate Trade Members | £10,000 | |
| Access Only Members | Access Only members are users who are permitted to view the Exchange trade platform for price discovery, research or data purposes | £2,500 |
Admission to the exchange involves these steps:
- Applicants decide on which category of trading they wish to register.
- Complete the online registration form.
- Once approved, traders receive login details for the TORS® trade platform.
- Applicants then receive instructions for the remaining steps before beginning physical trading.
INSCX charges both annual membership fees and exchange/clearing fees on trades.
How To Start Physical Trading With INSCX
Before beginning physical trading, all members must first open a Commercial trade account with the Specialist Merchant member of the Exchange.
Once the account is opened, the member can choose to trade through any of the approved merchant members for trade execution.
Members convey trade to merchants who then notify specialists. Specialists anonymously convey trades to the trading floor.
All trading on the Exchange is principal to principal, best execution, fully funded.
What Services Does INSCX Offer To Members?
INSCX makes a number of direct and ancillary services available to exchange members:
- Dealing: Execution and reporting trades using the exchange
- Logistics: Access to sea, inland freight, and customs clearing services
- Insurance: Access to conventional cargo insurance and EHS insurance for nanomaterials
- Trade Financing: Access to liquidity and financing for producers
- Price Discovery: Users can subscribe to access real-time price and trade data
- Advanced Materials Refining: Access to customized advanced and nanomaterial refining services that could enable users to develop new products
- Analysis: Access to inspection and toxicology services
- Research: Coordinate research with other market participants to integrate nanomaterials into existing supply chains
Who Are INSCX’s Approved Suppliers?
Nanomaterial producers are members who are engaged in the fabrication of ENMs, nano-enabled commodities, objects and devices. Current paid members include:
| Company | Year Membership Commenced |
|---|---|
| Nanoshel PVT., Ltd | 2010 |
| Primet Precision Materials Inc. | 2011 |
| Sodout Ahrar Shargo Co. | 2011 |
| Xanofi Inc | 2011 |
| Haydale plc | 2013 |
| OCSiAL | 2013 |
| Talga Resources Ltd | 2014 |
| United Nanotech Innovations PVT., Ltd | 2014 |
| Henge Precision Materials Limited | 2014 |
| NanoEclat Inc | 2015 |
The following nanoproducers are admitted to the Approved Supplier list, although they are not full members of the Exchange:
| Company | Country |
|---|---|
| Advanced Materials/Inframat | USA |
| AMCOL/Nanocor | USA |
| American Elements Inc. | USA |
| Angstrom Materials Inc. | USA |
| Lake Chemicals | UK |
| Lavoisa | Italy |
| Liquids Research Ltd | UK |
| Nanoamor Inc. | USA |
| Nanocyl | Belgium |
| Nanogap | Spain |
| Promethian Particles Ltd | UK |
| QSI Nano | USA |
| Thomas Swann Ltd | UK |
| XG Sciences Inc. | USA |
| Zyvex Inc. | USA |
Producers With Base Oil Bidding Rights
The following producers are approved to post bids and offers for Base Oil Groups I and II:
- CESPA
- Chevron
- ENI
- EXXON Mobil
- LOTUS
- MOH
- Q8
- Petrogal
- Petronas
- TOTAL
- REPSOL
- Shell
- BP/Castrol
Firms With Anonymous Bidding Rights
The following trading firms have permission to post anonymous bids and offers on the INSCX trade platform:
- FEEDCO
- DP OIL Oy
- Gulfpetrochem
- HIMBALT
- Sopetra/Chemlube
- PUMACROWN
- Troychem
- VITOL
How To Get Started Trading
Trading nanomaterials is a new and very specialized form of commodity trading and clearly not appropriate for the vast majority of traders.
The bulk of trading in this category is conducted by suppliers and industries using these materials.
At the moment, all of the trading is conducted with a requirement of physical delivery.
However, traders looking to invest in commodities have many other options available to them in more traditional markets such as metals, agriculture, and energy.
Alternative Ways To Trade
CFDs are a derivative instrument that offers retail investors a different way to invest in financial markets. These contracts allow investors to use leverage to bet on the price of financial assets without taking ownership.
Regulated Online Brokers Available In
Traders can open an account at one of these regulated brokerage firms and begin trading CFDs and other financial derivatives based on commodities.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74%-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Further Reading
Learn more about the world’s largest commodity exchanges including:
- Singapore Exchange (SGX)
- Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)
- Tokyo Commodity Exchange
- Chicago Mercantile (CME) Group
- Brasil Bolsa Balcão (B3)
- Deutsche Börse Group (DBG)
If you’d like a primer on how to trade commodities in general, please see our introduction to commodity trading here.
We have guides on ways to trade with instruments like options, stocks, forex, bullion, and cryptocurrencies.
