China's first iron ore futures-based exchange traded fund (ETF) has raised 11 million U.S. dollars from institutional investors and clients at private banks, according to the manager of the fund, which will list in Hong Kong on Friday.

The ETF, managed by the Hong Kong unit of Chinese broker Shanxi Securities Co Ltd - Shanxi Securities International Asset Management Ltd - will track the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) iron ore futures index and use its closing price on March 20 as a benchmark.

The fund will give investors exposure to the iron ore market in China, the world's top consumer of the raw steelmaking material, which imported more than one billion tones last year.

It will start trading on the secondary market of the Hong Kong Exchange on March 27 at 0.9537 U.S. dollars per unit, according to William Zhang, director of Shanxi Securities International.

The product can be traded in both U.S. and Hong Kong dollars, and participation is not limited by China's qualified foreign institutional investor (QFII) quota, according to a prospectus filed with the Hong Kong Securities & Futures Commission and a statement on Shanxi Securities International's website.

"Iron ore is the second-largest commodity in terms of the trade volume in the world. The ETF can provide an option for asset allocation," Zhang said, adding that the DCE's recent internationalization would help the fund attract overseas investors.

The DCE, which opened up its flagship iron ore futures to international investors in 2018 and saw nearly three million lots traded last year, did not immediate reply to a request for comment.