Recently, as the fiberboard and blockboard futures were to be listed, Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) organized the “Forum on Futures Market Serving Forestry Industry” in Dalian, which was attended by the representatives from the relevant national ministries and commissions, forestry industry organizations and forest product enterprises, who compared notes on the impact of the listing of the “two boards” futures on the industries, how to promote the further integration of the forestry industry and the futures market, how to make the futures market better serve the industries and other topics.
At the forum, a DCE official briefed the attendees on the work and guidelines of DCE in recent years. He said that since it was founded 20 years ago, DCE has achieved a sound situation of the market development with the support of the market parties. Currently, DCE boasts 38% of China’s total volume of commodity futures trading and about 45% of the open interest of the entire market. In terms of the market services, DCE has developed a series of characteristic brands of market services such as the market service projects of “Thousands of Villages and Tens of Thousands of Households” and “Thousands of Factories and Tens of Thousands of Enterprises”. This year, DCE has further strengthened the communication and cooperation with the industry authorities and the industry associations and carried out in-depth survey and research of the industry chain and the training, in a bid to enable the market to better serve the relevant industries. The official also said that in recent years, DCE has been attaching equal importance to the listing of new products and the maintenance of the existing products. After the listing of the two boards, DCE will effectively foster the new futures products of the two boards and make the products finer in details.
An official of a relevant department of the State Forestry Administration said that the successful listing of the two boards futures is of great significance for both the forestry industry and the development of China’s futures market. The two boards futures has kicked off the cooperation between forestry institutions and DCE and promoted the integration of the real economy of the forestry industry and the capital market. He said that the forestry production cycle is longer than other agricultural production cycles, and during the cycles, the forestry production is in the face of the tests of the natural, economic and other risks. Meanwhile, as a low-carbon environmentally friendly industry, the forestry industry has developed rapidly in recent years, but the trading modes of China’s forestry industry were relatively lagging behind. The listing of the two boards futures on DCE has provided modern financial instruments for the development of China’s forestry industry, and the two boards futures will also play a positive role in promoting the better and healthier development of the industry. According to the official, the national forestry authorities will strengthen the exchanges and cooperation with DCE in developing new forestry futures products, promoting the maintenance of the forestry futures products and other aspects, and encourage the forestry enterprises to make effective use of the futures market.
At the forum, Shi Feng, Secretary-General of the China National Forest Product Industry Association, fully recognized the significance and value of the two boards futures for the development of China’s forestry industry. He said that in recent years China’s forestry has seen rapid but imbalanced development. The listing of the two boards futures will help form the open and transparent market prices, promote the production and operation of the standard industrial products, advance the upgrading of the industrial structure, and have a positive impact on the development of China’s forestry industry. He pointed out that in the future, the China National Forest Product Industry Association will carry out all-round cooperation with DCE, continue to promote the research and development of the new forestry futures products and expand the market and the range of services for industries while actively coordinating and guiding the enterprises in properly participating in the futures market.
At the forum, the representatives of spot enterprises spoke highly of the listing of the two boards futures and expressed high expectations. An official of the asset management company of Dare Technologies Group said that the listing of the two boards futures has provided the real enterprises with a sound market platform, and through the operations on the futures market, the enterprises can cut down costs and lock in the profits, which represents the general trend. The representative of Dehua Group Holding Co., Ltd. said that the listing of the two boards futures will shape the production standards of the enterprises and promote the standardized and healthy development of the industry, thus benefiting the enterprises. Shen Guohua, Chairman of Huadong Forestry Exchange, said that the listing of the two boards futures was a milestone-like event in the development of China’s forestry industry. In the future, the Huadong Forestry Exchange will conduct in-depth cooperation with DCE in exploring the interaction of the futures and spots of the two boards, developing relevant indices and other aspects.
At the forum, the attendees put forward their suggestions on strengthening the market cultivation and helping the enterprises better utilize the market. An official of Guangdong Yihua Timber Industry Co., Ltd. hoped that DCE could further consolidate the communication with the enterprises in the industry, enhance training, and improve the industrial clients’ understanding and utilization of the two boards futures and other forestry futures products to be introduced in the future.
After listening to the opinions and suggestions of all the parties, the DCE official said that in the future, in accordance with the development strategies of China’s forestry industry, DCE will actively listen to the opinions and suggestions of the forestry authorities, industry associations and industrial enterprises, continue to improve the contract rules of the two boards futures on the basis of the needs of the development of the futures and spot markets, perfect the market mechanism and enhance the market efficiency; meanwhile, DCE will step up the market training and services and enable the participants in all processes on the forestry industry chain such as production, trade and processing to constantly deepen the understanding of the futures market and learn to use the futures market in managing the price risks. He also said that it is DCE’s key tasks in strengthening services for “San Nong (agriculture, farmers and rural areas) to list more agricultural futures, perfect the listed agricultural product contracts and develop and improve the great agricultural futures market. It is also the strategic deployment in adaptation to the market development. Based on the operation of the “two boards” futures, DCE will also vigorously develop the related timber index futures and other financial instruments, so as to make the Dalian futures market better serve the real enterprises.