On March 23 Shanghai Futures Exchange announced that its official launch of wire rod and rebar futures trading will take place on March 27, following the receipt of official approval from China's Securities Regulatory Commission.
All the listed contracts of rebar and wire rod futures are for the period from September 2009 to March 2010. Lot sizes for both products will be 10 mt, with minimum trading volumes of 300 mt. The listed base price will be announced one day before the official launch.
The minimum deposit for the trading of steel futures will equal eight percent of the contract value, up from the seven percent announced previously, with the price fluctuation limited to 10 percent of the listed base price for the first trading day, and to five percent thereafter.
The trading commission for rebar and wire rod future contracts has been temporarily set at 0.01 percent of the contract value.