Concept
The Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) () is a Chinese futures exchange based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. It is a non-profit, self-regulating and membership legal entity established on February 28, 1993. Dalian Commodity Exchange trades in futures contracts underlined by a variety of agricultural and industrial produce on a national scale. As of 2015, DCE has listed a total of 16 futures products, including corn, corn starch, soybean (gmo and non-gmo), soybean meal, soybean oil, RBD palm olein, egg, fiberboard, blockboard, linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), coke, coking coal and iron ore. Normal trading hours are Monday-Friday from 9 am to 11:30 am and 1:30 pm to 3 pm Beijing Time. The exchange has the deepest liquidity pool among all Chinese Commodity Futures Exchanges. According to the Futures Industry Association, the bourse has been the largest mainland futures exchange by volume for eight years, half the domestic market share in 2007, and captures roughly 2% of global futures market share (including financial futures). A near-tripling in volumes of its benchmark corn future in 2006 saw the contract leapfrog the DCE soy complex to become the single-largest product, with the 65m traded, trailing only Nymex WTI Crude in the global commodity rankings. According to the Futures Industry Association, DCE is the second largest agricultural futures bourse in the world, with a 29% market share. In 2007, total trading volume and turnover reached 371 million contracts and RMB 11.97 trillion (US$1.67 trillion). As of November 2007, the exchange had 194 members – including 180 brokers, with a reach of more than 160,000 investors. Louis Dreyfus became the first foreign member in June 2006. At present, soybeans, soy meal, soy oil corn, palm oil, linear low-density polyethene (LLDPE) futures are traded on the DCE. The introduction of LLDPE in 2007 also marks the first petrochemical futures contract in the country.