Shanghai Futures Exchange Widens Fuel Oil Futures Price Limits to 16%

Widening the daily band to 16% while lifting margin to 17-18% is a volatility-control move that cuts both ways: it gives the two contracts more room to clear at the open, but it also raises the cost of carrying a position, which typically thins speculative participation. The near-identical spread between hedging and ordinary margin suggests the exchange is treating speculative flow as the pressure point rather than commercial hedging. Whether open interest holds up after the band change, or shifts toward contracts still on the narrower limit, is the open question.