Steel City Commod eyes 300% growth in trading turnover

Steel City Commodities Private Limited (SCCPL), a subsidiary of Vizag-based Steel City Securities Limited, is expecting more than 300 per cent growth in commodities trading turnover this fiscal.

SCCPL, which has memberships on the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited and Multi Commodity Exchange of India, has already exceeded the last fiscal's total turnover within four months of the current fiscal.

"We started the commodities trading business in December 2003. In 2004-05, our total trading turnover was Rs 2,247 crore. It touched the Rs 4,687-crore mark by the end of August 2005 itself," G Raja Gopal Reddy, executive director of SCCPL, told Business Standard.

To create awareness among the brokers and public about commodities trading, SCCPL has conducted 170 seminars across the state including some villages over the last 18 months, and these efforts helped the company increase its trading turnover, he added.

"Initially, our trading turnover was about Rs 5 crore per day. By the beginning of the current fiscal, it increased to Rs 50 crore per day, and now through our branch network, we were able to achieve a Rs 100-crore turnover a day. We expect our total commodities trading turnover to cross Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal," Reddy said.

"Currently, about 9,000 clients are participating in commodities trading through our 180 sub-brokers. By the end of this fiscal, we will be appointing another 70-80 sub-brokers for commodities trading," Reddy said, adding, "Majority of our commodities trading turnover is being generated through crude oil, gold, silver and agro products."

SCCPL has 207 branch offices across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Tamil Nadu. The company plans to increase the number of branches to more than 300 next fiscal. "Once this expansion plan is completed, our commodities trading turnover will increase further," Reddy said.