* ICEX exchange wants to launch contract in a month
* Futures on agenda after move to quarterly pricing
* Indian exports cut by Karnataka state ban
(Adds quotes, details)
By Siddesh Mayenkar
MUMBAI, Jan 25 (Reuters) - India is primed to launch the world's first iron ore futures trading after the country's markets regulator approved four contracts, providing a key hedging tool for exporters as global prices touch record highs.
"I have approved (futures trade in iron ore) and allowed four contracts," B.C. Khatua, chairman of commodity markets regulator the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), told Reuters.
The seaborne iron ore market is worth about $88 billion a year. Futures contracts have jumped onto the agenda, to add to existing swaps contracts, after major producers switched from annual to quarterly pricing in April 2010.
India's Multi Commodity Exchange, the country's largest by turnover, and Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) are the bourses that have proposed starting iron ore futures.
Singapore's SMX exchange also plans to launch a contract later this year.
ICEX plans to launch its contract in a month's time, the exchange's head told Reuters, putting it ahead of SMX's offer.
"We plan to launch the (iron ore) contract in a month ... we are awaiting notification from the FMC to see if there are any changes to the contract and ... if it has to be cash-settled or delivery-based," said Sanjay Chandel, chief executive at ICEX.
India is the world's third-biggest exporter behind Australia and Brazil, although its overseas sales have slid because of a ban imposed by Karnataka state, which usually provides about a quarter of the country's 100 million tonnes of exports.
Global spot iron ore prices are currently heading for $200 a tonne, a level last seen in February 2008, buoyed by demand from China, the world's biggest buyer.
NATURAL PROGRESSION
At present, investors hedge price risks via forward swaps or cash-settled derivatives.
But now that the world's top iron ore miners -- Vale , Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton -- have ditched 40 years of annual pricing, exchanges from Singapore to Europe are competing for the business potential of a physical market second in size only to crude oil.
A futures contract will be a natural progression, said Paul Galloway, senior mining analyst at Sanford Bernstein in London.
"It's a big boon to the steelmakers. It will be a useful hedging tool for them," said Galloway, but added that attracting liquidity may be a challenge in the initial stages.
"Everything has to start somewhere. If the market wants it and uses it, then liquidity will increase. If the market doesn't find it useful, then it will die a natural death," he said.
Key could be whether foreign funds and international players are allowed to trade the contracts.
India currently bars foreign funds from its commodity exchanges, limiting its influence as a price setter. But the FMC expects institutional players to use new products including options and futures, which were cleared by the cabinet in September.
ICEX, part-owned by state-run MMTC Ltd which is the biggest Indian trader of iron ore, first announced plans for a futures contract in June last year.
It has tied up with Singapore-based Iron Ore and Steel Derivatives Association (IOSDA) to develop the contract.
Singapore's SMX plans a contract with cash settlement and no physical delivery, given the problems of standardising iron ore supply. It will also allow foreign investor participation, which could give it an edge over the Indian bourses' plans.
(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in SINGAPORE; writing by Jo Winterbottom, editing by Rajesh Pandathil and Jane Baird)