Introduction to Silver Futures
A Silver Futures contract consists of two important components—a futures contract and the Silver bullion. The combination of these two components creates a futures contract with the silver bullion as the underlying asset.
Characteristics and Specifications of Silver Futures
TFEX has defined the characteristics and specifications for Silver Futures, as follow:

Underlying Asset
The underlying asset of a Silver Futures contract is silver bullion with a purity of 99.9%
Contract Size
The contract size for a Silver Futures contract is 100 troy ounces (3,110.25 grams)
Contract Months
TFEX has set the contract months (delivery months) of Silver Futures to 6 even months in the calendar year; February, April, June, August, October and December. The contract months allowed to trade the Silver Futures will always be the three nearest even months. For example, if today is February 2, 2011, the listed futures contracts are the following contract months only:
- February 2011
- April 2011
- June 2011
However, on the last trading day of the nearest contract, a new further contract will be listed. Assuming that today is the last trading day for the contracts expiring in Feb 2011, a new contract expiring in Aug 2011 will automatically be listed.
Tick size
The tick size for a Silver Futures contract equals Bt1. That means that the price difference between each order cannot be less than Bt1.
- Examples of valid price ranges are Bt1,088, Bt1,089 and Bt1,090 etc.
Ceiling/Floor
TFEX has set the daily ceiling and floor for Silver Futures to +/-10% of the previous day’s settlement price. However, this ceiling and floor will be changed to +/-20% of the previous day’s settlement price if the price Silver Futures reaches +/-10%.
The trading day is divided into four sessions
Session |
Details |
Periods |
1 |
Pre-open |
9:15 – 9:45 |
2 |
Morning session |
9:45 – 12:30 |
3 |
Pre-open |
14:00 – 14:30 |
4 |
Afternoon session |
14:30 – 16:55 |
5 |
Pre-open |
19:15 – 19:30 |
6 |
Night session |
19:30 – 22:30 |
Last Trading Day
The last trading day of each contract is the day prior to the last exchange business day in the contract month. Examples are as follow:
Expirations |
Last trading days |
February 2011 |
25 February 2011 |
April 2011 |
28 April 2011 |
June 2011 |
29 June 2011 |
August 2011 |
30 August 2011 |
October 2011 |
28 October 2011 |
December 2011 |
29 December 2011 |
Note also that on every last trading day the contract can be traded only until 16.30 hrs.
Final Settlement Price
The price will be based on the London Silver Fixing Price, adjusted for currency from USD to THB. The calculation will be made using the below formula
- Weight: From troy ounce to Thai Gold Baht
- Purity: From 99.5% to 96.5%
- Currency: From USD to Bt
The calculation will be made using the below formula

Cash Settlement
For the sake of convenience, there is no physical delivery of a futures contract for silver bullion. Only cash settlement is made. Gains and losses from the contract’s position will result in cash transfers to the customer’s account. When a contract is settled in cash, its position is declared closed.
Contract Code
Single Order
The contract code for a single order of a Silver Futures contract comprises three parts, as shown below:
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
SV |
Z |
11 |
Part 1: Underlying Asset
The silver bullion is the underlying asset for a Silver Futures contract—SV is used as its symbol.
Part 2: Contract Month
The symbol of each expiry month is represented by a letter, see below.
Contract Months |
Symbol |
Contract Months |
Symbol |
February |
G |
August |
Q |
April |
J |
October |
V |
June |
M |
December |
Z |
Part 3: Expiry Year
The last two digits of the expiry year are used—for example, 11 for contract expiry year 2011 and 12 for a contract due to expire in 2012.
Examples of contract codes for Silver Futures using a Single Order

Combination Order
The contract code of a combination order for Silver Futures comprises five parts, as follow:
Part 1 |
Part 2 |
Part 3 |
Part 4 |
Part 5 |
SV |
V |
11 |
Z |
11 |
Part 1: Underlying Asset
As the silver bullion is the only underlying asset of a Silver Futures contract, SV is used as its symbol.
Part 2 and part 4: Expiry Months
Each expiry month is represented by a letter, see below.
Contract Months |
Symbol |
Contract Months |
Symbol |
February |
G |
August |
Q |
April |
J |
October |
V |
June |
M |
December |
Z |
Part 3 and part 5: Expiry Year
The last two digits of the respective expiry years are used—for example, 11 for contract expiry year 2011 and 12 for a contract due to expire in 2012.
Examples of trading using a Combination Order
- An investor sends an order to buy SVV11Z11 at price Bt10, which means the investor wants to buy SVZ11 and sell SVV11 simultaneously. The price of SVZ11 minus that of SVV11 must not exceed Bt10.
- An investor sends an order to sell SVM11Q11 priced at Bt20, which means the investor wants to sell SVQ11 and buy SVM11 simultaneously. The price of SVQ11 minus that of SVM11 must not be lower than Bt20.
The contract codes of Silver Futures for all contract months.
SVG11J11 |
SVG11M11 |
SVJ11M11 |
SVJ11Q11 |
SVM11Q11 |
SVM11V11 |
SVQ11V11 |
SVQ11Z11 |
SVV11Z11 |
SVV11G10 |
SVZ11G10 |
SVZ11J10 |
Circuit Breaker
TFEX has set the daily Ceiling and Floor for Silver Futures to ?10% of the previous day’s settlement price. As soon as the price of Silver Futures touches ?10% of the previous day’s settlement price, a Circuit Breaker will be announced. When the trading hours continue after the Circuit Breaker is over, the Ceiling and Floor will be extended to ?20% of the previous day’s settlement price.
For a Combination order, the Ceiling and Floor are set using the previous day’s settlement price of the far month minus that of the near month ?Bt200. The Ceiling is equal to the spread of the previous day’s settlement price of the far–near month +Bt200, while the Floor is equal that spread –Bt200.
Contract Holding till Expiration
A Silver Futures Contract, that is held till expiration, will be marked-to-market at the end of the last trading day of that contract month. The investor will receive/pay the difference between the final cost and the final settlement price, while his/her position will be automatically closed.
Commission fee
Silver Futures
The commission for Silver Futures is set as a Sliding Scale First Contract respective to the daily contract number, VAT exclusive. For offline and Internet trading, the commission fees are as follow:

Examples
- If an investor trades SVQ11 20 contracts per day via Offline trading, the commission to be paid = 86 x 20= Bt1,720 *
- If an investor trades SVQ10 100 contracts per day via Internet trading, the commission to be paid= 75 x 100 = Bt7,500 *
*VAT exclusive
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