The Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) will impose position limits on a number of commodity futures contracts from December 1, including rebar, fuel oil, silver, hot-rolled coil, pulp, rubber, aluminum and zinc, the bourse said in a notice on November 29.

Non-broker members and clients will be subject to position caps when opening positions daily. Limits are set at 32,000 lots for rebar, 16,000 lots for fuel oil, 13,000 lots for silver, 10,000 lots for hot-rolled coil, 8,000 lots for pulp, 6,000 lots for rubber, 4,000 lots for aluminum and 3,000 lots for zinc.

Accounts under common control will also be subject to the single client limit on daily opening positions. Hedging and market making trades will be exempt from the caps.

For the first offense of exceeding the limits, members or clients will face a ban on opening new positions for at least five trading days, while restrictions will be a minimum of one month for the second violation and two months for the third breach.

More serious cases will be handled according to the bourse's rules on disciplinary actions.

The move comes as SHFE aims to curb excessive speculation and stabilize market volatility amid heightened trading activity in recent months, insiders noted.

The position limits will take effect from the night session on November 30 and remain in place until further notice, according to the bourse.

On November 29, the major contract for rebar futures settled at 3,872 yuan/t, down two days in a row from 3,913 yuan/t on November 27.