Two energy futures coming for investors

Chinese investors will soon have the opportunity to invest in two energy futures.

Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange will launch steam coal futures on Thursday while Shanghai Futures Exchange will offer pitch futures on Oct 9, according to notices announced by the two exchanges recently.

Steam coal is mainly used for power generation. Analysts believe that the two new futures will help downstream users, including public facility companies and aluminum producers, with their power plants to avoid price fluctuations and manage risks.

Sluggish domestic demand and the industry restructuring globally have forced many small miners to shut down. The benchmark Bohai-Rim Steam-Coal Price Index has dropped 16 percent so far this year and is down 22 percent on 2012.