China Securities Regulatory Commission announced in late April that China is to become the second market in the world to trade live hog futures (after Chicago Mercantile Exchange). The contract would allow for hog futures to be traded in the Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE), a situation that has been under discussion for over a decade.

Live pigs market has suffered violent fluctuations in prices over the last decades, which brings great uncertainty to farming enterprises, causing production and operation to become cyclical and hard to stabilise. This has a negative effect on the overall development of the industry.

Changes in the farming industry caused by the ASF outbreak, such as increasing standardisation of breeds or farming practices and an increase in the market share of bigger players have allowed for this contract to develop and be implemented faster. Now that bigger players have a higher relevance in the market, feed and technical services are more uniform among the market and slaughtered pigs and lean meat rates are also becoming more standard.

The new futures contract will help mostly big players to manage risk and will allow the sector to develop in a less cyclical and volatile manner, ultimately stabilising prices. It will provide the market with an open, transparent and continuous price reference that will benefit all players.

Authorities in DCE have not yet stated when this measure will be launched, but experts say that new futures contracts are typically implemented around a month after final government approval.