Latest statistics of China Futures Association indicated that China's futures trade from the January to February period was affected by the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year Holiday. Trading volume and turnover (calculated in yuan) in the two months were down 25.47% and 24.43% compared with the same period last year. However, Open interest continues to post gains.
Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) announced, total monthly volume and turnover in January 2007 increased 6.36% and decreased 4.40% from a year ago respectively with to 21,299,710 contracts and 443.3 billion yuan, but turnover was 18.67% and 18.4% lower than the previous month. Open interest in DCE by the end of January was 79.51% higher than a year ago, to 2,457,510 contracts.
In February, 11,823,030 of contracts were traded in DCE, with a turnover of 291.5 billion yuan, accounting for 48.83% and 21.89% of the total amount in China's futures market respectively. DCE's open interest by the end of February stood at 2,486,394 contracts, taking up 74.34% of the national volume at the time. Market observers attributed the growth to the bullish run of agricultural products since last August as well as active innovation by the new leadership of DCE.
Open interest in DCE hit a record high of 2,565,252 contracts on 7 February;and on 26 February, the first trading day in the Chinese Lunar New Year, a sharp rise of the international agricultural commodity prices during the holiday further lifted investment sentiment in the exchange and drove the open interest in DCE to 2,560,289 contracts, very close to the record set on 7 February.
Fei Zhonghai, general manager of CGOG Futures Co Ltd, said one of the major driving forces for the increasing positions in DCE was the bullish performance of agricultural commodities in the international markets since last August, which had attracted a large number of investors, including arbitragers and speculators, to sectors like corn and soybean.
