ZHENGZHOU, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Futures and options for caustic soda and paraxylene officially commenced trading at the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) on Friday.
The introduction of these futures and options can provide the industry with effective tools for price discovery, risk management, and resource allocation, said Fu Xiangsheng, deputy head of China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation.
"It will bolster the resilience of the supply chain and propel the petrochemical industry towards high-quality development," Fu said.
Caustic soda is a critical product in the salt chemical industry and is widely used in metallurgy, printing and dyeing, and chemical fiber production. On the other hand, paraxylene is primarily used in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), which is a key raw material in the polyester fiber industry.
China is not only the world's largest producer and consumer of caustic soda, but also the largest producer, consumer, and importer of paraxylene.
Xiong Jun, chairman of the ZCE, said the trading of caustic soda and paraxylene futures and options will establish efficient connections with existing futures products such as PTA, short fibers, and alumina.
"This will translate China's scale advantage in chemical products into pricing benefits, and enhance the price-setting power in textile raw materials and energy chemical products," Xiong added. ■
