Birmingham Futures Exchange Inc. (BFEX), Birmingham, Ala., has signed a letter of intent with commodity risk management firm FCStone Group Inc., West Des Moines, Iowa, to develop a steel price hedging platform based on steel vouchers.

Under the agreement; FCStone will research and, if viable, develop a trading platform for steel vouchers, a concept developed by steel risk management brokerage BFEX. This could include forward sales, options and over-the-counter swaps.

Jonathan C. Putman, BFEX's chairman and chief executive officer, described steel vouchers as being...