On September 2, 2026, coke options were officially listed for trading on Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), marking a further improvement in China’s suite of derivatives tools for the coal, coke and steel industry chain. This also provides upstream and downstream industry participants with more refined and diversified risk management tools. On the first day of trading, the coke options market operated in a smooth and orderly manner, maintaining an effective linkage with the underlying coke futures. Industrial enterprises participated actively, and the market got off to a steady start with a positive response.
The listing of coke options fills a key gap in the futures and options product complex for the coal, coke and steel industry chain, providing more diverse range of risk management tools to enhance the resilience of the relevant industrial and supply chains.
On the first day of trading, the first batch of coke options comprised 328 option contracts covering 10 underlying futures contracts, from J2611 to J2708, which fully cater to trading and hedging needs across different maturities.
According to DCE data, on the first day of trading, coke options recorded a trading volume of 855 lots (one-way, the same below), accounting for 0.88% of the trading volume of the underlying coke futures. Open interest stood at 414 lots, representing 0.49% of the open interest of the underlying futures. Trading was concentrated in the near-month dominant contracts, with options on the J2701 and J2611 futures contracts seeing active trading. Combined trading volume in options on the two contract months accounted for 96.49% of the total options trading volume on the day. Trading on the first day was concentrated mainly in slightly out-of-the-money contracts, with a reasonable distribution. Market makers continued to provide two-way quotes, keeping bid-ask spreads within a reasonable range and ensuring the supply of market liquidity.
As the coke options were officially listed, DCE has achieved full “futures + options” coverage across the three core ferrous commodities—coking coal, coke, and iron ore—establishing a comprehensive derivatives-based risk management matrix that covers the entire coal, coke and steel industry chain. This has further enhanced the efficiency of price discovery and the precision of risk hedging across the coal, coke and steel industry chain.
