NCDEX to launch non-dematerialised commodity trading

KOCHI: The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) has plans to launch non-dematerialised commodity trading, which is expected to be rolled out in the country by December this year, a top official of the exchange on Saturday said.

The non-demat format would be less expensive and the exchange was hopeful that the new system would go online from December 31, NCDEX Managing Director and CEO R Ramaseshan, told reporters here.

At present, the exchange is trading in electronic format by which the traders have to pay Rs 600 for each contract. So the margin in trading is very limited and the traders are not prepared to incur the additional cost, he said.

As part of this, the exchange is developing a new warehouse management system which will be introduced in a two months time. The software is ready and the trials are going on, he said.

About 98 per cent of the trading volumes in NCDEX is in agri-products.

Asked if the exchange had plans to shift focus following restrictions in futures trade in agri commodities, he replied in the negative. But the exchange will look into non-agricultural products like metals and carbon credit, he said.

The NCDEX Spot Exchange, a wholly owned subsidiary of NCDEX, has already launched steel contract, which was attracting a volume of Rs 70 lakh to one crore a day.

There are also planning to expand various products in the spot exchange.

"Kerala offers lot of opportunities for the spot market. We are exploring opportunities. The exchange has not yet identified other products, but exercise is on to open to agri products also," he said.