What It Is / Concept Explanation

One lot of a rebar futures contract opened at 5,000 RMB/ton with a contract multiplier of 10 tons has a nominal value of 50,000 RMB, but you only need to pay about 5,000 RMB in margin to control it—this is the essence of futures leverage. Domestic futures exchanges in China (such as SHFE, DCE, CZCE, and CFFEX) have standard contract specifications for each commodity, including trading units, minimum price fluctuations (tick size), daily price limit ranges, margin ratios, and transaction fee rates. Our "China Futures Contract Lookup" tool allows you to quickly retrieve accurate parameters for any listed contract without having to dig through exchange websites or memorize tables.

These parameters directly determine your trading costs and risk exposure: the contract multiplier affects the profit and loss (PnL) for each point of fluctuation, the margin ratio determines the maximum number of lots you can open, and the transaction fee rate impacts short-term trading costs. This tool integrates the latest exchange announcements into a searchable database. Simply enter the contract code to view all key data at a glance.

Principles & Formulas / Algorithms

Margin calculation and PnL calculation are the two most commonly used algorithms in this tool. The underlying formulas are very simple:

Opening Margin (RMB) = Opening Price (RMB/ton) × Contract Multiplier (tons/lot) × Margin Ratio (%) × Number of Lots

Closing PnL (RMB) = (Closing Price - Opening Price) × Contract Multiplier × Number of Lots (for long positions; reverse for short positions)

Why do these formulas make sense? Because futures involve "margin trading." You don't have to pay the full contract value; you only need to deposit a performance bond based on the exchange's specified ratio. Meanwhile, PnL is based entirely on the price change multiplied by the contract multiplier. This is similar to stocks (number of shares × price difference), but the multiplier is usually much greater than 1, resulting in a significant leverage effect.

In our tool, after you enter a contract code and run a search, fields like the contract multiplier and margin ratio are displayed directly. You simply enter the price and number of lots in the adjacent calculation module, and the system automatically applies the formulas to generate the results.

How to Use This Tool / Step-by-Step Guide

When you open our China Futures Contract Lookup page, you will see three main areas: the input area on the left, the results area in the center, and the calculation area on the right.

Enter the commodity code you are interested in into the "Contract Code" input box on the left, for example, rb2405 (Rebar 2405 contract).
Click the "Search" button. The central results area will immediately display the complete parameters for that contract: trading unit (10 tons/lot), tick size (1 RMB/ton), daily price limit range (6%), exchange margin ratio (7%), transaction fee rate (0.01%), etc.
If you need to calculate the margin for one lot, go to the calculation area on the right: enter 5000 in the "Opening Price" box and 1 for the number of lots. The margin ratio will automatically populate with the queried 7% (you can also modify it manually). Click "Calculate Margin".
The result card will display: Margin = 5000 × 10 × 7% × 1 = 3,500 RMB. Below it, a prompt will note: "Default exchange margin; futures brokerages may add 2-5 percentage points."
To calculate PnL, enter your target price in the closing price box (e.g., 5100) and click "Calculate PnL" to see the floating PnL: (5100 - 5000) × 10 × 1 = 1,000 RMB.

Complete Example / Practical Walkthrough

Let's take the Soybean No. 1 futures as an example using the calculator above:

Enter a2405 in the contract code box and click search. The central results area shows: trading unit 10 tons/lot, tick size 1 RMB/ton, and exchange margin ratio 8%.
Assume you are bullish on soybeans and plan to open a long position at 4800 RMB/ton for 1 lot.
In the right calculation area: enter 4800 for the opening price, 1 for the number of lots, and the margin ratio automatically fills in as 8% (which you can keep). Click "Calculate Margin".
The result card displays: Margin =