China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange has completed pairing for its first live hog futures contract delivery, the country’s first live-animal physical-delivery contract, according to an article published on the exchange’s website on Thursday.
The exchange, which is responsible for matching buyers with sellers to complete contract delivery within a specified time, linked four pairs of buyers and sellers for the delivery, totaling 64 tonnes.
The companies involved in the delivery pairing were COFCO Jiajiakang (Jiangsu) Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Chinese state grain trader COFCO, and leading pig producer Muyuan Food Co Ltd. .
The exchange launched the live hog futures contract in January as a vital hedging tool for an industry roiled by the African fever outbreak, which had decimated herds and sent pork prices soaring.
Live hog futures, however, have been sliding since February, losing nearly a fifth of their value last month, as large volumes of heavy pigs being sent to slaughter dragged down spot prices and increased market supply.
Live hog futures were last down 2.2% at 16,220 yuan ($2,509.98) per tonne. Hog prices typically stay weak during the summer, when pork demand is lower. ($1 = 6.4622 Chinese yuan)
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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