March 12, 2008

China works out standardized contracts for live pig futures in Dalian

The Dalian Commodity Exchange had worked out on a standardized contract for live pig futures, which is now waiting for approval by Chinese regulators, Liu Xinggang, the general manager of the exchange, said.

The exchange has been mulling on the launch of the futures since 2006. However, the exchange has found some difficulty in establishing standards for breeding, delivery and quarantine because the product is live pigs.

Chinese regulators are cautious about the matter, thus the futures have not been launched by far.

Now the exchange has well prepared for the rollout of the futures, Liu assured.

China's live pig futures have been erratic since the price began to freely fluctuate in 1985, which impacts the development of the pig breeding sector and even the feeding sector.

Experts said that the launch of live pig futures would help to improve the price fluctuation.

Liu also pointed that less than 5 percent of the investors on the commodity futures market were institutional investors currently, and that was not conducive to the stable development of the market.