Commodity exchanges raise fees

Chinese regulators will raise fees on trading farm-product and metals futures in China’s commodities markets, Bloomberg reported. The fee increase is the latest attempt by regulators to stem speculation, which has been blamed for pushing up prices, particularly in foodstuffs. The Dalian Commodity Exchange will stop an arrangement which allows traders to pay just half the usual fees if contracts are bought and sold on the same day, and the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange will extend some existing trading fees to a wider range of commodities. Food prices increased 10.1% year-on-year in October, contributing considerably to China’s headline 4.4% inflation rate during the month. Government regulators have previously suggested that some price controls may be implemented to dampen inflation.