China starts trading lumber futures

BEIJING - China, the world's largest source of forestry products, started trading fiberwood and plywood futures Friday at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.

Shi Feng, secretary-general of the China National Forest Product Industry Association, said the launch of the two futures contracts will offer companies more tools in pricing, help them arrange production and sales, and hedge risks.

Figures from the State Forestry Administration showed forestry industry output grew at an annual pace of more than 20 percent in the past decade, totaling 3.95 trillion yuan ($645 billion) last year, a strong foundation for development of the lumber futures market.

Fiberboard and plywood are major raw materials for furniture, decoration and packaging.