Which is more tasty? China’s apple futures craze, or mainland’s stock market
A recent spike in apple futures prices and trading volumes on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange was triggered by a recent cold snap that damaged China’s main apple producing regions, says analysts
An apple frenzy is gripping China, as the country’s recently launched futures for the fruit hit a fresh record high on Wednesday, attracting nearly US$60 billion of fund inflows, close to the combined turnover of US$63 billion for the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets.
To curb trading risks, the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange announced Wednesday it will raise commission fees for investors to close their positions in apple futures, only a few days after it imposed higher margin requirements.
The apple futures for October delivery, the dominant contract on China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange, jumped as much as 5 per cent to 9,235 yuan per metric tonne on Wednesday, the highest on record since China launched the world’s first apple futures in December.
Turnover of the contract reached a whopping 363 billion yuan (US$57 billion), just shy of the combined turnover of 402 billion yuan (US$63 billion) for Shanghai and Shenzhen markets on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the contract’s daily turnover was 253 billion yuan, much higher than the Shanghai stock market’s 163 billion yuan. It also surpassed the Shenzhen market’s 251 billion yuan.
Since the beginning of April, the price for the October delivery contract has soared around 40 per cent.