Shanghai Exchange Slaps New Limits on Metal Trading as Prices Soar
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The Shanghai Futures Exchange on Monday tightened trading rules for key metals for the second time in a week, seeking to tamp down excessive market volatility after a dramatic surge in silver and gold prices.
Starting after Wednesday’s close, the exchange will expand daily price limits for copper and aluminum futures to 9% and raise margin requirements for speculative positions to 11%. Similar adjustments will be applied to international copper contracts. In addition, daily opening position limits for non-futures-company members and clients trading silver and tin will be reduced starting from Monday night’s trading session.
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- The Shanghai Futures Exchange tightened trading rules for copper, aluminum, silver, and tin to curb volatility after sharp price surges in silver and gold.
- New rules include higher price limits (9%), raised margin requirements (11%), and reduced opening position limits for silver and tin futures.
- Regulators barred 16 clients for one month due to disclosure violations amid concerns about overheating fueled by speculation and fading support factors.
- Citic Futures Co. Ltd.
- Zhu Shanying, an analyst at Citic Futures Co. Ltd., has warned about the risk of short-term overheating in the precious metals market due to the rapid increase in prices. She noted that factors supporting the rally, such as expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts and easing silver tariff risks, are diminishing. Zhu cautioned that geopolitical developments or hawkish statements from the Federal Reserve could lead to a sharp correction, especially for silver.
- 2026-01-20：
- The Shanghai Futures Exchange increased price limits on copper and aluminum to 8%, raised margins to 10%, and capped silver positions at 3,000 lots.
- By 2026-01-25：
- Comex silver already surpassed $100 an ounce.
- 2026-01-26：
- The Shanghai Futures Exchange tightened trading rules for key metals for the second time in a week, including barring 16 clients from opening new positions or withdrawing funds for a month due to disclosure failures in silver and tin trades.
- 2026-01-26：
- Comex gold surged past $5,100 an ounce and Comex silver rose as high as $110.92 during afternoon trading.
- Starting from 2026-01-26 night trading session：
- Daily opening position limits for non-futures-company members and clients trading silver and tin will be reduced; silver futures’ intraday opening limit will drop to 800 lots, and tin to 200 lots.
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