| The first futures contract was formally launched by Jamshed J Irani, director of Tata Sons and former managing director of Tata Steel. |
| Jignesh Shah, managing director of MCX, said the steel futures contracts would facilitate best price discovery, hedging opportunities and benefits through standardised contracts. |
| Futures trading will be an important price risk management tool, essential for continuous development of this sector. |
| "Once the necessary regulations are in place, futures trading in steel may see global trading interest in hedging on the MCX as there are no other exchanges for steel futures anywhere in the world," he added. |
| MCX has adopted the CTCL technology used in the equities and derivative markets for use in commodities trades. |
| "This technology will enable MCX members to expand their trading network with more controls and superior risk management systems", said Shah. |
| The technology was being used by FTIL in equities, derivatives and forex markets at 10,000-plus trading desks. |
| Representatives of regulatory bodies like Kewal Ram, chairman, Forward Markets Commission, were present at the launch, as well as steel industry representatives, associated intermediaries and other commodities markets specialists. |
| The steel industry has been booming of late and the spot market has been volatile. Steel futures would help buyers plan better. Steel Futures were launched on the terminal of MCX member Maximus Commodities. The contracts were based on two underlying product types. |
| "It was necessary to introduce steel futures as a hedging mechanism", said Hemant Mehta, chairman of Maximus Commodities. |
| The steel market in India was vulnerable to volatility as the country produced only 3.3 per cent of world steel production of around 30 million tonnes and imported specialised steel. |
| Best price discovery was lacking on account of fluctuating domestic demand, poor penetration of rural areas and high export interest. |
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