China ‘working proactively’ towards launching live pig financial futures contracts as pork prices soar
- The Dalian Commodity Exchange is moving closer to launching the type of financial contract in the world’s largest live pig industry
- Pork prices in August increased 46.7 per cent from a year earlier, while live pig prices doubled in September from a year earlier
Under pressure due to the ongoing surge in pork and live pig prices, China has moved closer to launching long-awaited financial future contracts for live pigs to help the country’s farmers and traders manage risks in the world’s largest live pig industry, the head of a Chinese commodity exchange said on Wednesday.
Li Zhengqiang, the chairman of the Dalian Commodity Exchange, told a corn industry conference in the port city of Dalian on Wednesday that his exchange is “working proactively” to launch the live pig futures without providing a detailed timeline.
Wang Ruiting, an analyst at one of China’s largest pig farming companies, said the live pig industry has been expecting and studying the use of futures contracts even though there is no schedule for them to be launched.