SHFE Raises Price Limits, Margin Ratios on Fuel Oil and Bitumen Futures

The exchange is applying a heavier hand to fuel oil than to bitumen, with wider limits and higher margins on the nearby fuel oil contracts — a sign that volatility risk is concentrated in that complex rather than spread evenly across the energy barrel. Ordinary-position holders absorb the largest increase, so speculative leverage in these contracts gets more expensive while hedging remains comparatively cheaper. Whether the tighter parameters cool trading activity in the affected contracts, or simply push positioning into other tenors, is the open question.