China lists sunflower-oil futures and options in Zhengzhou from 12 November

China’s securities regulator (CSRC) said on 6 November 2026 that it had agreed to register sunflower-seed-oil futures and options on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE). The same day ZCE issued the futures listing notice and the parallel options package (CNFIN / China Securities Journal / Sina mirrors). China News Service (CNS Zhengzhou), First Finance (Yicai), Xinhua Finance (CNFIN), China Securities Journal and CNR carried the package on the afternoon and evening of the 6th.

Per ZCE’s listing notice, sunflower-oil futures start trading on 12 November 2026 (Thursday). On day one the opening auction runs 08:55–09:00; day sessions 09:00–11:30 and 13:30–15:00; from the evening of 12 November a night session runs 21:00–23:00. Initial contracts are SO2705, SO2707, SO2709 and SO2711. Trading margin is 8% and the daily price limit is 7%; on the listing day the limit rises to 14% of the listing benchmark price under ZCE risk rules.

Sunflower-oil options, per the parallel notice cited by China Securities Journal, start on the evening of 12 November 2026 at 21:00 (auction 20:55–21:00), with initial series on underlying months 2705 and 2707. CNS, Yicai and CNR describe the delivery design: the contract does not restrict import country of origin; it uses warehouse-plus-factory delivery (仓库加厂库), with factories allowed to defer shipment by up to 30 days; Xinjiang is a non-benchmark delivery zone to ease oil arriving overland from Central Asia; the delivery-month position limit is 50 lots (1,000 tonnes). The listing notice also sets alternative-delivery differentials: solvent-extracted sunflower crude (浸出葵花籽原油) at a 100 yuan/tonne discount; grade-1 pressed sunflower oil at factory outturn meeting the exchange standard at a 300 yuan/tonne premium.

On the physical market, CNS, Yicai and CNR converge: China is a major sunflower-oil consumer; domestic oilseed supply is limited and import dependence has long sat at 70–80%. Yicai and CNR put sunflower oil at about 4% of China’s vegetable-oil market. CNR adds that imports mainly come from Belt and Road countries in the Black Sea and Central Asia, and that the oil helps diversify the “oil bottle” beyond soy and rapeseed. The same sources name the risk pain the contract aims to cover: international trade still on a one-shot flat price (一口价) without a continuous public benchmark, and long freight that makes cross-hedges into soy or rapeseed futures a poor fit.

CSP take: treat 6 November as registration + listing circular day, and 12 November as the open of trading. For anyone importing, crushing or formulating with sunflower oil tied to the Chinese market, the practical gain is a tradable SO index and clear delivery rules with no origin barrier. Checklist: (1) months SO2705–SO2711 and options 2705/2707; (2) margin/limit 8%/7% (14% on day 1); (3) delivery eligibility and crude/−100 vs pressed/+300 differentials; (4) do not assume Brazilian origin — sources cite the Black Sea and Central Asia. This reading is ours, not the sources’.