NMCE to weed out dud futures

Ahmedabad-based National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India will soon discontinue futures trading in some of the commodities in its portfolio, a senior exchange official said.

This is in line with the Forward Markets Commission's view to weed out dud contracts.

The exchange is also working to launch some new contracts in cotton, mentha crystals, and energy complex.

However, the official declined to give the timeframe for the same.

"We are soon going to reduce (de-list) four commodities and add a few on our exchange," Kailash Gupta, managing director, NMCE, said.

The official was speaking on the sidelines of a conference organised by FMC.

The commodity regulator today met with senior officials of the trade bodies to discuss the issues related to the futures market.

The meet took place in the shadow of criticism from various quarters that the recent rise in prices of essential commodities was largely due to speculative trade in futures. He said, sunflower seed, safflower seed, sesame seed, and its derivatives will be discontinued initially.

At present, NMCE trades in the seed, oil, and cake contracts for sunflower, safflower, and sesame for expiry in Aug-Oct, Gupta said.

The exchange is also working on launching a Gujarat variety cotton contract, as the state (Gujarat) is the largest producer cotton in India.