The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), the world’s third-biggest bullion bourse, and its domestic rivals may lift turnover by more than 20 per cent as commodity prices rebound and a new exchange starts next month.
The value of commodities traded on India’s 22 exchanges in the year to March 31, 2010, may jump from Rs 52.5 lakh crore a year earlier, B C Khatua, chairman of the Forward Markets Commission, said in an interview. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities climbed 14 per cent in May, the most in 34 years, amid speculation that demand will recover as the recession eases. Economic growth in India may bounce back to a 9 per cent pace in the next two years as lower interest rates and stimulus packages take hold, Trade Minister Anand Sharma said in London yesterday.
“Given the more favourable economic environment seen on the horizon, and expected increase in commodity prices due to a pick up in economic activity, a growth of anything upward of 20 per cent is possible,” Khatua said late yesterday in Mumbai. Copper has rallied 55 per cent this year on the London Metal Exchange, making it the best performer after gasoline on the CRB index. Crude oil surged 49 per cent, while raw sugar has climbed 38 per cent in the period as India turned into a net importer of the commodity for the first time since the 2005-06 season.
