China’s methanol futures have been approved for launch by the China Securities Regulatory Commission this year

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At the \"6th China (Beijing) Futures and Derivatives Market Forum\" held on May 14, Wang Chende, Director of the Research and Development Department at the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, said that methanol futures have been approved for development by the China Securities Regulatory Commission this year, and efforts are currently being made to gather opinions from other relevant ministries, with the aim of launching these futures products as soon as possible. 　　Wang Chende said that the minimum margin requirement for regular months for methanol futures is 6%, while it is 30% for delivery months. “The position limit system for methanol futures is based on a membership model, with a limit of 100,000 contracts. For customers who are not members of futures companies, position limits are definitely in place; in regular months, this limit is 1,000 contracts, which equates to 50,000 tons, while in the month prior to delivery it is 15,000 tons. It can be said that 5,000 tons is sufficient to meet the needs of methanol manufacturers. ” 　　Wang Chende said that the delivery grade for methanol futures is the top-quality standard specified by national regulations, and the delivery method involves both warehouses and factory storage facilities, with warehouses being the primary means of delivery. “These factory-warehouse facilities are located in Shandong and Henan provinces, in enterprises that meet certain production standards; they operate as factory-warehouses or storage facilities. This approach is taken to facilitate local investors. Additionally, there is an excess capacity for methanol production, and we are concerned that in case of low inventory levels in the future, these factory-warehouse facilities can serve as a safety valve to help regulate the situation. ” 　　Speaking about the plans for introducing new products on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange in the future, Wang Chende said, “After methanol, ethylene glycol holds great potential, as it is a related product to PTA. If PTA is compared to ‘flour’, then ethylene glycol is like ‘water’; by combining these two, one can create ramen.” In the future, our exchange also aims to further expand in the field of energy and chemicals; considerable effort has been invested in thermal coal as well, but there may be an issue regarding the timing for its listing. ”