The China Securities Regulatory Commission has recently approved the Shanghai International Energy Exchange -- a subsidiary of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, to conduct low-sulfur fuel oil futures trading. The contract was officially listed for trading on June 22, 2020. This is the third international variety listed in Shanghai Futures Exchange after crude oil futures and No. 20 rubber futures.
Low-sulfur fuel oil futures will be adopted as a specific domestic variety, adopting the model of "international platform, net price trading, bonded delivery, and RMB valuation" to fully introduce foreign traders to participate. This is also the second international energy futures contract after crude oil futures.

Will enhance the right to speak in the international marine oil market

As early as 2004, fuel oil futures had already landed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The delivery grade is RMG 380 marine fuel oil (sulfur content is class I, II) or a marine fuel oil of better quality than the standard, which is commonly known as high sulfur fuel oil in the industry.
As the first futures trading product approved for listing since the cleanup and rectification of the Chinese futures market, fuel oil futures was the only domestic energy futures product at that time, and it was also the entry point for the establishment of China's oil futures market. For this reason, fuel oil futures have gained wide market participation and become an important reference target for domestic and foreign fuel oil spot markets.
Data show that in 2009, the trading volume of fuel oil futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 45.754 million lots. The volume of transactions in the first half of 2009 ranked third among global energy futures and ranked fifth throughout the year.
However, the one-paper policy has changed the operating logic of the market. In 2009, due to the impact of fuel oil consumption tax, the consumption structure of the spot market has undergone tremendous changes. Bonded 380 marine fuel oil has gradually become the industry's main consumer variety. The fuel oil futures market has also entered a downturn. On May 24, 2012, fuel oil futures saw zero transactions for the first time.
In order to comply with the development trend of the industry and fill the gap in the lack of domestic bonded fuel oil pricing mechanism, Shanghai Futures Exchange revised the fuel oil futures contract in 2018 to convert the delivery grade to RMG380 bonded marine fuel oil.
After the contract was revised, the vitality of fuel oil futures reappeared. In 2018, the transaction volume of the bonded 380 fuel oil futures contract on the Shanghai futures exchange ranked the 15th in the global energy futures category and ranked 4th in 2019. The volume in the first four months of this year has jumped to the second place in the world.
At this time, there has been a new change in the policy of the fuel oil spot market -- the global sulfur restriction order is coming. On January 1, 2020, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Global Ship Fuel Sulphur Restriction Requirements officially came into effect. This will fundamentally improve the port, ocean and global environment, and also bring about tremendous changes to the global marine oil market, prompting the further expansion of the spot market of low-sulfur fuel oil. At the same time, the introduction of the domestic low-sulfur fuel oil export tax rebate policy has successfully opened a new situation in the domestic supply of domestic bonded low-sulfur marine fuel oil.
Professor Kang Wenjin, director of the Securities Research Center of the School of Finance at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, told reporters at Shanghai Securities News that the upcoming international low-sulfur fuel oil futures prices can reflect the supply and demand of the global spot market in a more timely and direct manner, which is conducive to promote the further development of China's low sulfur fuel oil industry by market mechanism. At the same time, this will also gradually make Shanghai an influential international low-sulfur fuel oil pricing center, further strengthen the global influence and competitiveness of China’s commodity futures market, make China an important energy product in the field of fuel oil and have greater pricing power.
Companies in the industry are actively preparing for battle
The reporter was informed that the upcoming low-sulfur fuel oil futures have a broad market basis. At present, the global annual consumption of marine fuel oil is nearly 300 million tons, mainly concentrated in major ports in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Among them, the Asia-Pacific market has grown rapidly, with a market share of over 45%, and has become the world's largest marine oil consumption market.
It is reported that in the next step, under the unified deployment of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Shanghai international energy trading center will continue to do all preparations for listing and follow-up supervision, effectively improve market supervision and risk prevention systems, do market training and publicity work to ensure low sulfur fuel oil futures launched smoothly and operated steadily.
Xu Yifeng, general manager of Shanghai Mid-Term Futures, said that the listing of low-sulfur fuel oil futures will provide another more powerful risk management tool for the bonded marine oil industry. From the perspective of pricing power, since the low-sulfur fuel oil futures are an international variety, international investors will be introduced to participate in the transaction, which will help improve China's pricing power and voice in the international marine oil market.
In order to welcome the launch of this new variety, all parties in relevant industries are actively preparing. Many business people interviewed said that they are very optimistic about the development prospects of low-sulfur fuel oil futures trading.
"Listing of low-sulfur fuel oil futures will provide a good price risk management tool, allowing the company to focus more on production and operation." Qiao Yongxin, deputy general manager of East China Petroleum International Business Co., Ltd. said, "Our company will actively participate in the low-sulfur energy fuel oil futures trading."

Source: Shanghai Futures Exchange

业界热议低硫燃料油期货上市
中国证监会近日批准上海期货交易所（以下简称上期所）子公司上海国际能源交易中心（以下简称上期能源）开展低硫燃料油期货交易，合约自2020年6月22日正式挂牌交易。这是继原油期货和20号胶期货之后，上期能源上市的第三个国际化品种。
低硫燃料油期货将作为境内特定品种，采用“国际平台、净价交易、保税交割、人民币计价”的模式，全面引入境外交易者参与。这也是继原油期货之后第二个国际化能源期货合约。
将提高国际船用油市场话语权
早在2004年，燃料油期货就已登陆上期所。其交割品级为RMG 380船用燃料油（硫含量为I级、II级）或者质量优于该标准的船用燃料油，也就是业内俗称的高硫燃料油。
作为中国期货市场清理整顿以来第一个批准上市的期货交易品种，燃料油期货是当时国内唯一的能源期货品种，也是建立我国石油期货市场的切入点。为此，燃料油期货获得了市场广泛参与，成为国内外燃料油现货市场的重要参考标的。
数据显示，2009年上海期货交易所燃料油期货成交量4575.4万手。2009年上半年成交量在全球能源类期货中排名第三，全年排名第五。
不过，一纸政策却改变了市场的运行逻辑。2009年，受燃料油加征消费税影响，现货市场消费结构发生巨大变化，保税380船用燃料油逐渐成为行业主要的消费品种。燃料油期货市场也进入低迷状态，2012年5月24日，燃料油期货首现零成交。
为顺应行业发展趋势，填补国内保税燃料油定价机制缺失的空白，上期所于2018年修订燃料油期货合约，将交割品级转换为RMG380保税船用燃料油。
合约修改之后，燃料油期货活力再现。2018年，上期所保税380燃料油期货合约的成交量在全球能源类期货中排名第十五，2019年排名第四，今年前4月成交量已跃升为全球第二。
此时，燃料油现货市场政策又有了新变化——全球限硫令来了。2020年1月1日，国际海事组织（IMO）全球船舶燃油硫含量限制要求正式生效。这将从根本上改善港口、海洋和全球环境，也给全球船用油市场带来巨大变革，促使低硫燃料油现货市场规模进一步扩大。同时，国内低硫燃料油出口退税政策的推出，成功开启了国内保税低硫船用燃料油自主供应的新局面。
上海财经大学金融学院证券研究中心主任康文津教授对上证报记者表示，即将推出的国际化低硫燃料油期货价格，可以更及时和更直接地反映全球现货市场的供需情况，有利于以市场机制促进我国低硫燃料油行业的进一步发展。同时，这也将使上海逐步成为具有影响力的国际低硫燃料油定价中心，进一步加强我国大宗商品期货市场在全球范围内的影响力和竞争力，让我国在燃料油这一重要能源产品领域拥有更大的定价话语权。
行业企业积极备战
记者获悉，即将上市的低硫燃料油期货有着广泛的市场基础。目前，全球船用燃料油年消费量近3亿吨，主要集中在亚洲、欧洲、中东及北美地区的主要港口，其中亚太市场增长较快，市场份额占比超45%，已成为全球最大的船用油消费市场。
据悉，下一步，上期能源将在中国证监会的统一部署下，继续做好各项上市准备和后续监管工作，切实完善市场监管和风险防范制度，做好市场培训和舆论宣传工作，确保低硫燃料油期货顺利推出和稳健运行。
上海中期期货总经理许一峰表示，上市低硫燃料油期货，将为保税船用油行业提供了又一个更有力的风险管理工具。从定价话语权角度来看，由于此次低硫燃料油期货是国际化品种，将会引入国际投资者参与交易，有利于提高我国在国际船用油市场的定价权和话语权。
为迎接这一新品种上市，相关行业内各方正积极准备。不少受访的企业人士均表示，非常看好低硫燃料油期货交易的发展前景。
“低硫燃料油期货上市将提供良好的价格风险管理工具，让公司能更加专注于生产经营。” 华东中石油国际事业有限公司副总经理乔泳新表示，“公司将积极参与上期能源的低硫燃料油期货交易。”