White sugar, also known as white sugar, can be divided into sulfide sugar and carbonized sugar according to different sugar making processes. Carbonated sugar has a long shelf life, good quality and relatively expensive price. At present, most sugar factories in China produce sulfide sugar. Sugar is almost composed of sucrose, and the sucrose content of sugar is generally above 95%. Therefore, all plants with high sucrose content can be used as raw materials for sugar production. At present, the main raw materials of sugar in the world are sugar cane and sugar beet.
The main producing countries or regions of white sugar in the world are Brazil, India, European Union, China, etc.1998-1999, the world produced raw sugar10.323 billion tons. China's sugar producing areas are mainly concentrated in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and other provinces and autonomous regions. In recent years, Guangxi ranks first in the national sugar production. The total output of1997-1998 is 3.25 million tons, accounting for 41%of the national sugar production. At the same time, China is also one of the world's largest sugar consumers. In 1998, the national consumption has exceeded 8 million tons, accounting for about 7% of the world's sugar consumption. China's white sugar has been in short supply for many years, and only imports can make up for the gap, thus becoming a big importer of white sugar in the world. The per capita annual consumption of sugar in China is only 6 kg, which is far lower than the level of 2 1 kg per capita in the world. In view of this situation, the United States, Japan, the European Union and other developed countries and regions have implemented high tariff protection on white sugar, while China has to promise a low import tariff on white sugar after joining the WTO, so China's white sugar exports will not develop much in the future, on the contrary, the import of white sugar will increase steadily.
The production of white sugar generally has the following characteristics: First, unlike other crops, sugar cannot be directly turned into commodities after harvest, and it must be industrialized. Secondly, due to the large equipment investment in industrial processing, the increase of processing capacity lags behind when the sugar price is high; Similarly, when the sugar price is low, the processing capacity is not easy to be reduced quickly. Therefore, the fluctuation period of sugar price is longer than that of ordinary agricultural products. Thirdly, in recent years, the proportion of sugar beet in the north has been decreasing year by year, and the sugar production has shifted from north to south, from coastal to inland, and from economically developed areas to economically underdeveloped areas.
The storage time of white sugar is influenced by many factors such as climatic conditions, processing quality and storage conditions. Under good conditions, white sugar can be stored for two to three years. Poor storage or long storage time of white sugar is prone to the following problems: 1? Dampness, melting, bleeding and caking; 2? The color value changes and the color turns yellow; 3. Pollution. Among them, color value is the most important indicator of the quality standard of white sugar, especially for standard futures contracts, color value may be the key to smooth delivery.
At present, the main international sugar futures trading places are: Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (GSEC) in the United States, London Commodity Exchange in the United Kingdom and Tokyo Sugar Exchange in Japan. At present, the forward contract trading in Guangxi sugar market is more popular in China, but it is not a standard futures trading. 1995 years ago, China once opened the sugar futures market, and later the State Council closed the sugar futures market. With the approach of China's entry into WTO, the price of white sugar will be increasingly influenced by the international market. At this time, the white sugar futures opened by Zheng Shang will provide a real hedging place for white sugar production, processing and circulation enterprises.
The "White Sugar Futures Contract Details" we reported are basically as follows: the contract unit is 1 5 tons, the on-site margin is 5%, the price increase and decrease is limited to 3% of the settlement price of the previous day, and the standard product for delivery is first-class white sugar (including sugarcane sugar and beet sugar).
The price of white sugar fluctuates greatly, and the trading volume is also very large. It is a relatively successful futures contract in the international market. After a long period of research and demonstration, Zhengshang Institute believes that white sugar futures trading should be active. In addition, in the setting of delivery warehouses, we are also going to set up a number of delivery warehouses in the south to facilitate production and marketing enterprises and strengthen circulation. As for the impact of sugar futures on wheat futures, I think we should look at it from two aspects: first, wheat futures need a period of time to cultivate, especially as a large variety, and whether it can attract a large amount of hot money in the short term cannot be the only measure. Secondly, if sugar futures are successfully traded, it will definitely weaken the position of wheat futures contracts in the short term, but in the long run, they are not a variety after all, and it is not impossible for them to develop together.