On January 17， the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） announced it had approved trade of polypropylene （PP） futures contracts at the Dalian Commodity Exchange （DCE） in northeast China.

The exact date of the launch of the futures will be decided by the exchange， said CSRC spokesman Zhang Xiaojun.

China is the largest PP consumer in the world with an average annual growth rate of more than 10 percent. In 2012， PP consumption was close to 15 million tons， with applications in packaging， household appliances， textiles， automobiles and construction.

Domestic PP users have been pushing for PP futures to reduce market volatility and strengthen Chinas pricing power in the international market.

Currently， two plastic products， LLDPE and PVC， are traded on the Dalian exchange.

Recovering From Red Ink

China COSCO Holdings Co. Ltd.， the countrys largest shipper， announced on January 21 that it was recovering from heavy losses suffered in 2013.

“Although no significant changes were seen in the global shipping industry， COSCO took various measures to return to profitability，” said Sun Jiakang， Vice General Manager of COSCO， after getting the results of preliminary calculations on the companys 2013 performance.

The Shanghai-listed company made cutting operational costs a major priority for 2013.

With the release of COSCOs official profit report， the firm will file an application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for the removal of delisting risk warnings， Sun disclosed.

COSCO lost 9.56 billion yuan （$1.57 billion） in 2012 after a deficit of 10.45 billion yuan（$1.73 billion） for 2011. If the company records another loss in 2013， it risks being delisted from the stock market.endprint