โ All Products ยท Product Guide
Glass Futures (FG) โ The Property Cycle's Purest Play
Float glass is the purest listed proxy for Chinese property completions โ windows go in when buildings finish, so FG trades the completion end of the property cycle directly. It is also one of China's most famously volatile industrial contracts: months of grinds punctuated by vicious speculative squeezes.
Contract Specifications
| Exchange | Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) |
| Symbol | FG |
| Underlying | Float glass (5mm, construction grade) |
| Contract size | 20 metric tons per lot |
| Price quote | CNY (ยฅ) per metric ton |
| Minimum tick | ยฅ1 per ton = ยฅ20 per lot (โ$2.80) |
| Daily price limit | Dynamic band set by the exchange (typically ยฑ4% to ยฑ9%) |
| Day session (Beijing) | 9:00โ10:15, 10:30โ11:30, 13:30โ15:00 |
| Night session (Beijing) | 21:00โ23:00 |
| Contract months | All 12 calendar months (main contracts: Jan / May / Sep) |
| Last trading day | 15th calendar day of the month preceding the delivery month (shifted for holidays) |
| Exchange margin (reference) | Roughly 8โ15% of contract value โ raised aggressively during speculative phases |
Specifications are reference values compiled from exchange publications. Margin ratios and price limits are adjusted dynamically โ the exchange's latest announcements always prevail.
What the Price Actually Buys You
At a typical price of ยฅ1,500/ton, one lot (20 tons) is worth ยฅ30,000 (โ$4,200) โ margin near 10% means roughly ยฅ3,000 (โ$420) controls one lot. Every ยฅ1 move = ยฅ20 per lot. Note: this contract had an extended speculative phase in recent years where prices multiplied several-fold โ volatility is structural.
Small contract value plus big narrative = retail-fueled volatility. FG punishes oversized positions and rewards disciplined trend-followers who respect limit moves.
What Moves Glass
- Property completions. Completion-area data is FG's demand curve. The 2021โ2024 property downturn crushed glass demand; policy support for completions rallies it.
- Furnace economics. Float-glass furnaces run continuously for years โ cold repairs (stopping production) and restarts define supply. Track daily furnace-in-operation counts from industry data.
- Soda ash and fuel costs. Soda ash (its own ZCE contract, SA) and natural gas are glass's big input costs โ cost-side moves propagate quickly.
- Inventory cycles. Producer warehouse inventory data releases are weekly market events โ destocking fuels rallies, stock builds sink prices.
- Policy on completions. "Guarantee building delivery" policies and housing-support packages are FG's biggest macro catalysts.
Why Traders Trade It
Explosive trends. FG produces some of the strongest industrial trends on the board โ when property policy turns, glass moves for months.
Night session access. 21:00โ23:00 Beijing overlaps US morning for policy-driven moves.
What to Watch Out For
- Squeeze behavior. FG has a documented history of retail-driven squeezes with consecutive limit moves. Never add to losers; respect the daily limit band.
- Policy whiplash. Property policy headlines can reverse the trend in a session โ size for gapped stops.
Trading Glass on XS Select
All XS Select evaluations include Glass and every other major Chinese commodity contract, on real Wenhua Finance market data with institutional liquidity. Commission is set at 2x the exchange standard (charged on open and close) โ replicating professional trading conditions.
Ready to trade it? Take the challenge from $29 โ pass the evaluation and earn a 10x bonus plus a funded performance account with 50% profit share. Sign up โ