Commodity exchanges' turnover up 61% in first half of May

The turnover of commodity exchanges rose by 60.87% to Rs 7,00,282 crore during the first fortnight of this month on the back of higher value of trade in bullion.

The turnover stood at Rs 4,35,312.59 crore in the same fortnight last year.

There are 23 commodity exchanges in the country, out of which five are national exchanges and the rest are regional.

"Total value of trading at the commodity exchanges during the fortnight May 1 to May 15, 2011 was Rs 7,00,282.66 crore," according to the latest data released by the market regulator Forward Market Commission (FMC).

The cumulative value of trade from April 1 up to May 15, 2011 increased by 68.55% to Rs 19,95,114.57 crore as against Rs 11,83,726.97 crore in the corresponding period of the last fiscal.

According to FMC data, the turnover in bullion during the fortnight ended May 15 more than doubled to Rs 4,57,358.65 crore against Rs 2,07,178.71 crore in the year-ago period.

The cumulative value of trade in bullion in this fiscal till May 15 also more than doubled to Rs 12,86,538.56 crore as against Rs 5,00,280.98 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

In agri-commodities, the total value of trade during the first fortnight of May grew by 38% to Rs 58,910.46 crore as against Rs 42,639.17 crore in the year-ago period.

The cumulative turnover in agriculture products between April 1 and May 15 rose by 28% to Rs 1,73,661.68 crore compared with Rs 1,35,755.72 crore in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

In the entire 2010-11 fiscal, the commodity futures market did a business of Rs 119.48 lakh crore.