China’s apple futures fuel ‘speculative boom’

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In less than five months, official figures show that China's apple futures have fueled a "speculative boom" among investors, with the highest daily turnover reaching 616.3 billion yuan (about 96.65 billion US dollars).

Under the expectation of a decline in production, the price of apple futures has been soaring since April, with the sudden rise drawing a large number of opportunists into the market.

Wednesday marked the most active day for trading, with the daily trade volume surpassing annual apple production in China.

China, the world's largest apple grower and consumer, launched the world's first apple futures contracts on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange in Henan Province in December 2017 to help growers hedge against risks amid price fluctuations.

Apple growing is an important part of China's poverty alleviation campaign. /VCG Photo

To counterbalance the speculative boom, the exchange has introduced risk prevention and control measures. The market stabilized after the daily turnover dropped more than 3 percent on Thursday and Friday.

Chang Qichao, an apple dealer in Lingbao in Henan Province, said he became very interested in the product due to these developments and he will apply to become a delivery warehouse for apple futures.

China's apple output has been increasing over the past decade. It had 2 million hectares of apple trees with an output of 43.88 million tonnes in 2016, accounting for 57 percent of global supply.

Apple growing is an important part of China's poverty alleviation campaign as many of the country's impoverished areas rely on the crop as a major income source.

The country has been stressing the role that financial services play in the real economy and issued futures contracts for commodities including white sugar, soybean meal, and cotton yarn.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency