Futures prices and spot prices are both related and different. The connection between them is that they are all affected by the supply and demand factors of the same commodity. By the delivery month, they are combined and actually have the same price. But there is a difference between the futures price and the spot price:
The first is the difference between time factors. Spot prices generally refer to spot prices, and futures prices are forward prices, which reflect both the current supply and demand situation and the future supply and demand situation.
The second is the difference between standardization. Spot price is a specific price, while futures price is a standardized price, specific to specifications and varieties, as well as premium and discount of quality. The delivery month price of futures is still the standard price, or the standard spot price.
The third is the difference between the benchmark price and the final price. Because the futures price is produced through centralized trading and fair competition, it is regarded as a benchmark price of international trade, neither wholesale price nor retail price, and the spot price on the delivery date is also a benchmark price.
It is precisely because of this characteristic of futures prices that the futures market has the function of forming prices.
Theoretically, the quantitative relationship of spot futures price comparison should be expressed as: futures price = spot price+holding cost. Among them, the holding cost refers to the storage fee, interest and other expenses paid by the manufacturer to hold a certain commodity under normal supply and demand conditions.