China's Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) officially launched benzene futures on Tuesday, with benzene options to be launched later in the day.
The trading of futures and options for benzene, an important chemical raw material, has been green-lighted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on June 20.
At 9:00 Tuesday, benzene futures commenced trading on the DCE.
The first batch of listed contracts includes four varieties, with a trading unit of 30 tonnes per lot and a delivery unit of 30 tonnes, adopting physical delivery.
Experts say the the launch of benzene futures and options will furnish the industry with effective risk management tools and enhance China's say in pricing at global benzene market.
"The launch of benzene futures and options will fill the gap in risk management tools for raw materials in the aromatics industrial chain. Together with the already listed styrene futures and options, they will form a comprehensive hedging toolkit, more efficiently helping enterprises on the industrial chain to stabilize profits and maintain steady production and operations," said Yan Lin, senior manager of the DCE's Commodity Department.
Benzene is a crucial organic chemical raw material, closely linked to national economic development and public livelihoods.
Its upstream supply relies on two major energy sources - oil and coal, and its downstream applications span three key industries: synthetic resins, synthetic fibers, and synthetic rubber.
It is widely used in textiles, home appliances, tires, dyes, and other products.
China is the world's largest producer and consumer of benzene.
In 2024, China's benzene output reached 25.13 million tonnes, with apparent consumption hitting 29.26 million tonnes.
Its market scale has exceeded 208.6 billion yuan (about 29 billion U.S. dollars).
China launches benzene futures
