Shanghai Petroleum Exchange to launch DOP futures trading Aug 28

China's Shanghai Petroleum Exchange plans to launch physical contract trading for dioctyl phthalate on August 28, a source at the exchange confirmed Thursday.

A total of five months worth of DOP mid- and long-term futures -stretching from October 2007 to February 2008 - will be open for trading initially, the source said.

The main use of DOP is the plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride. China's current domestic DOP production capability amounts to about 2.7 million mt/year.

In the first half of 2007 China imported 173,788 mt of the material,primarily from Taiwan and South Korea, according to the figures released by China Customs.

Last week East Chinese DOP domestic prices were heard at Yuan 14,700-14,900/mt ($1,935-1,961/mt) ex-warehouse, according to the Platts data.