Zinc futures
Natural properties of zinc and its application.
Zinc is a widely distributed metal element in nature. It mainly exists in sulfide and oxide state. Minerals include sphalerite, smithsonite, sphalerite, hemimorphite, sphalerite, etc. Because of the low melting point of zinc, closed blast furnace method and electrolysis method are often used in smelting. Pure zinc is a silvery white metal with element symbol Zn, atomic weight 65.4, specific gravity 7.2g/cm3, melting point 4 19℃ and boiling point 907℃. Zinc is the third most important non-ferrous metal among 10 commonly used non-ferrous metals. It has good calendaring, corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and is widely used in non-ferrous, metallurgical, building materials, light industry, electromechanical, chemical, automobile, military, coal and petroleum industries and departments. Zinc and many metals can form various alloys with excellent properties. The most important thing is that zinc and copper, tin, lead and so on are made into brass, which is used in machinery manufacturing; Die-casting alloy made of zinc, aluminum, magnesium and copper is used to manufacture various precision castings; Zinc plating on the surface of steel and various cast irons can prevent corrosion, and zinc-containing spraying materials and various anti-corrosion materials are widely used. Zinc processing material is the main material for manufacturing dry batteries. Zinc chemicals, such as zinc oxide and lithopone, are indispensable raw materials for medicine, rubber, pigments and paints.
2. Futures history
The initial spot forward transaction is a verbal commitment by both parties to deliver a certain amount of goods at a certain time. Later, with the expansion of the scope of transactions, oral promises were gradually replaced by sales contracts. This kind of contract behavior is becoming more and more complicated, and it needs intermediary guarantee to supervise the timely delivery and payment of goods. So the Royal Exchange, the world's first commodity forward contract exchange, opened in London on 157 1. In order to adapt to the continuous development of commodity economy, improve transportation and storage conditions and provide information for members, 1848, 82 businessmen initiated and organized the Chicago Board of Trade (Board 185 1 Chicago Board of Trade to launch forward contracts; 1865, Chicago Grain Exchange introduced a standardized agreement called "futures contract" to replace the previous long-term contract. This standardized contract allows manual contract trading, and gradually improves the margin system, thus forming a futures market specializing in standardized contract trading, and futures become investors' investment and financial management tools. 1882 exchange allows hedging to be exempted from performance obligations, which increases the liquidity of futures trading.