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Futures trading in guar seed and gum might resume in the medium future, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the regulator for the commodity markets, indicated on Friday.
Guar futures were banned a year earlier, after a sharp spurt in prices.
FMC chairman Ramesh Abhishek on Friday said while inaugurating the United Commodity Exchange (UCX), the country's sixth futures exchange: "We had asked three exchanges to give a report on who were cornering guar seeds and gum last year, when prices on the futures market were skyrocketing. NCDEX has already submitted their report, saying 61 per cent of guar stock in the exchange's warehouse was held by farmers. We are waiting for the other two exchanges, after which we will take a final decision on launching futures in guar."
UCX is a joint initiative by reputed institutions such as IDBI Bank, Iffco, Nabard,, REC and Commex Technology.
An advisory committee set up by the ministry of consumer affairs had already recommended re-launching of guar futures.
The FMC chairman also said black pepper futures would resume soon. "We have asked NCDEX to clear all issues in this regard," he said.
While FMC has not allowed launch of new pepper contracts after the controversy over the commissioner of food safety seizing stocks from NCDEX-accredited warehouses, saying they were coated with mineral oil. On this issue, the traders have gone to court. However, despite this legal dispute, the chairman said, "it will not come in the way of launching new pepper contracts with revised specifications."
On the commodity futures markets, he said the environment for a new exchange was challenging, as volumes were falling due to a fall in commodity prices and regulations being tightened.
From tomorrow, formal trading will begin at UCX, with 100 members. "Another 200 members are in various stages of approval," said Praveen Pillai, managing director of the exchange. It will start trading with nine commodity contracts. including gold, silver, refined soy oil and chana.
