derivatives are another contract corresponding to spot market contracts. The holder of a contract has the obligation or option to buy or sell an asset in the future. The price of the contract comes from the underlying assets, such as some agricultural products and minerals, financial indexes or interest rates. The most basic derivatives are futures contracts and option contracts.

The purpose of inventing derivatives is to provide a tool for traders of the underlying products to hedge risks. With the increase of market participants, the use of derivatives is not just hedging, but a large number of investments and speculative transactions.

The price changes of derivatives are obviously uncertain, which brings high risks to the traders of derivatives. Both buyers and sellers have to bear the risks caused by future price, interest rate, exchange rate and other fluctuations.

the earliest derivatives are commodity forward contracts. The main commodity futures in the world include agricultural products such as grain, coffee and cocoa, energy products such as coal and oil, non-ferrous metal products such as copper and aluminum, and building materials.