China launched soybean oil futures trading at Dalian Commodities Exchange in the northeastern China's Liaoning Province Monday morning.

Trading of soybean oil futures may help Chinese soybean oil producers reduce the risks of drastic price fluctuation of refined oil and soybean on the highly competitive soybean oil market, said Zhu Yuchen, general manager of the Dalian exchange.

"I expect booming trade of soybean oil futures," he said. "The Dalian exchange has seen robust trading of bean dregs since the product was launched last year."

Merely minutes after the soybean oil futures trading started at 9:00 AM Monday, price for March deals rose to 5,200 yuan (US$642) per ton from the base price of 5,000 yuan (US$617).

Soybean oil was the second new product launched at China's futures market in the new year. On Jan. 6, China launched futures trading of white sugar at Zhengzhou exchange in the central Henan Province.

China now has three futures exchanges in Dalian, Shanghai and Zhengzhou that trade bean dregs, soybean, maize, soybean oil, copper, aluminum, natural rubber, fuel oil, cotton, wheat and sugar.

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2006)