Futures Trading Volume Up In China

As reported at the People's Daily in China, futures trading volume is up 148% in the first half of 2008 as trading in farm products rose. Volume was up 36% at the Shanghai Futures Exchange, where gold, copper, and zinc trade. At the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, where wheat, cotton, and sugar are traded, volume was up 450%. The Dalian Commodity Exchange, which trades corn and soybeans, saw trading volume increase 381%. Compared with other developed world exchanges, the Chinese futures markets are still weaker, but futures trading in pork, steel, crude oil, silver, and lead are expected to be traded on the various Chinese futures exchanges in the near future, and volume in existing products is expected to continue to increase as well.