Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

The Dalian Commodity Exchange, China's second biggest futures bourse in terms of trading volume, revealed the base prices of maize futures today on its official website ahead of the new futures product's official debut scheduled for tomorrow, the Shanghai Securities News reported.
The prices for contracts in January, March and May of next year are 1,180 yuan, 1,200 yuan (US$145) and 1,230 yuan while those for July, September and November are 1,240 yuan, 1,250 yuan and 1,230 yuan.
According to the DCE, the trading cap will be 10 percent on the first trading day, dropping to 4 percent on normal trading days. The deposit will be 6 percent.
Introduction of maize futures is intended to optimize the system of the grain market and help growers, processors and distributors of maize to hedge against market risks.
China is the world's second largest maize producer and consumer, with annual production and consumption of 120 million metric tons each, next to the United States.
At present, 80 percent of the maize consumption is for industrial uses, such as animal feed, brewery and drug making.