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 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 sugarcane and beet.

The main producing countries or regions of white sugar in the world are Brazil, India, European Union, China and so on. 1998- 1999, the global production of raw sugar was 65438+323 million tons. China's sugar producing areas are mainly concentrated in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guangdong and other provinces. In recent years, sugar production in Guangxi ranks first in China, with a total output of 1997- 1998 of 3.25 million tons, accounting for 4 1% of the national sugar production. At the same time, China is also one of the largest sugar consumers in the world, with the national consumption exceeding 8 million tons from 65438 to 0998, accounting for about 7% of the world's sugar consumption. China has been in short supply of sugar for many years, and only imports can make up the gap, thus becoming a big sugar importer in the world. China's per capita annual consumption of white sugar is only 6 kg, which is far lower than the world's per capita annual consumption of white sugar of 2 1 kg. In view of this situation, the United States, Japan, the European Union and other developed countries and regions have implemented high tariff protection on sugar, while China has to promise to implement low import tariffs on sugar after joining the WTO, so China's sugar exports will not develop much in the future. On the contrary, sugar imports will increase steadily.

The production of sugar generally has the following characteristics: first, sugar is different from other crops, and it cannot be directly converted into commodities after harvest, so it must be industrialized. Secondly, due to the large investment in industrial processing equipment, the improvement of processing capacity lags behind when sugar prices are high; Similarly, when the sugar price is low, the processing capacity is not easy to decrease rapidly. Therefore, the fluctuation cycle 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 sugar production has shifted from the north to the south, from the coast to the 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. The following problems are easy to occur when sugar is stored poorly or for a long time: 1? Humidity, 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 sugar quality standard, especially for standard futures contracts, color value may be the key to smooth delivery.

At present, the main sugar futures trading places in the world are: the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (GSEC) in the United States, the London Commodity Exchange in the United Kingdom and the Tokyo Sugar Exchange in Japan. At present, the forward contract trading in Guangxi sugar market is popular in China, but it is not a standard futures trading. Before 1995, China once opened the sugar futures market, and later the State Council closed it. With the approach of China's entry into WTO, the price of white sugar will be more and more influenced by the international market. At this time, the sugar futures opened by Zhengshang will provide a real hedging place for sugar production, processing and circulation enterprises.

The details of the "sugar futures contract" we reported are basically as follows: the contract unit is 1 5 tons, the on-site deposit 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 sugar (including sucrose and beet sugar).

The price of white sugar fluctuates greatly, and the trading volume is also large. It is a relatively successful futures contract in the international market. After a long period of research and demonstration, Zheng Shang believes that sugar futures trading should be active. In addition, in the setting of delivery warehouses, we are also preparing 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 to be cultivated for a period of time, especially as a large variety, whether it can attract a large amount of hot money in the short term can not be the only measure. Secondly, if sugar futures trading is successful, it will definitely weaken the position of wheat futures contracts in the short term, but in the long run, after all, it is not impossible for them to develop together.