Japan starts additional release of national oil reserves: media

The Japanese government has commenced an additional release of its national petroleum reserves from an oil base in Ibaraki Prefecture, according to a media report from Japanese outlet, the Sankei Shimbun, on Friday.

The move comes amid widespread concern after a sharp drop in Japan's recent crude oil imports, impacted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, said the report. This follows a previous release of national reserves that the government initiated on March 26.

On April 10, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced that an additional release, equivalent to approximately 20 days of national consumption, would be carried out in May.

The Shanghai Futures Exchange on Thursday officially listed options contracts for hot-rolled coil, stainless steel, and low-sulfur fuel oil upon approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

On their debut day, the three new commodity options saw a total of 236 contracts listed for trading. This included 48 contracts for hot-rolled coil options, 50 for stainless steel options, and 138 for low-sulfur fuel oil options.

China is the world's largest consumer of hot-rolled coil and stainless steel, as well as a major consumption market for low-sulfur fuel oil in the Asia-Pacific region.

The introduction of these commodity options will provide related enterprises with a broader array of tools and strategies to manage risks and ensure steady operations, according to analysts.

"China's futures and options product system has been further enriched, now offering comprehensive coverage across the major sectors of non-ferrous metals, ferrous metals, precious metals, and energy and chemicals. This enables investors to combine futures and options to separately manage directional price risks and price volatility risks, while allowing enterprises to manage the price risks they face with greater precision," said Huang Wei, director of the futures and derivatives department at the Shanghai Futures Exchange.