Shanghai continues to make efforts in the futures and options field, becoming the world's first rubber company | Shanghai
The China Securities Regulatory Commission recently approved the registration of synthetic rubber futures and options on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. This is the world's first synthetic rubber futures and options with butadiene rubber as the underlying commodity, which is of great significance for serving the construction of a unified national market, promoting the improvement of market-oriented pricing system, and enhancing the competitiveness and price influence of China's synthetic rubber industry.
Synthetic rubber is a polymer elastomer synthesized artificially, which is one of the three major synthetic materials along with synthetic resin and synthetic fiber. It is widely used in economic fields related to national economy and people's livelihood, such as the automotive industry, footwear industry, municipal construction, aerospace and military industry, and is crucial in promoting economic development and ensuring strategic safety. China is the world's largest producer, consumer, and importer of synthetic rubber. In 2022, the main production and apparent consumption of synthetic rubber reached 4.842 million tons and 5.454 million tons, respectively, accounting for 23% and 35% of the world's total. Based on an average price of 13200 yuan/ton in 2022, the main synthetic rubber consumption market in China has a scale of approximately 72 billion yuan.
Among the eight main types of synthetic rubber, butadiene rubber is the second largest type of synthetic rubber, mainly used in the tire industry. Yang Qing, Chairman of Galaxy Futures Co., Ltd., introduced that butadiene rubber has the characteristics of high strength, resistance to bending, low heat generation, wet slip resistance, and low rolling resistance. It is particularly suitable for producing high-performance tires and energy-saving tires for supporting vehicles, and can be said to be an important component of helping China's new energy vehicle industry upgrade. In industrial production, butadiene rubber is often mixed with natural rubber to compensate for the shortcomings in performance.
The scale of China's synthetic rubber industry is huge, with a wide range of market participants in the industry chain from upstream petroleum refining industry to downstream rubber products and applications. In recent years, due to the continuous release of industry production capacity, changes in supply and demand, and the international political and economic environment, the spot market price of synthetic rubber has fluctuated frequently, and the demand for risk management has become increasingly strong. Jiang Tao, President of Guotai Junan Futures Co., Ltd., believes that the listing of synthetic rubber futures and options can not only help enterprises more accurately manage price risks, stabilize their production and operation, but also help the spot market form an "open, fair, and just" price system. At the same time, it will further supplement the sequence of rubber varieties, promote the liquidity of related varieties, provide more opportunities and possibilities for risk management for various enterprises, enhance their risk resistance, and enhance the resilience and safety level of the industrial chain.