Commexes' Q1 turnover dips 65%: FMC

The turnover of commodity exchanges fell sharply by 65% to Rs 14.55 lakh crore in the first quarter of this fiscal due to poor volumes in most commodities, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) said.

The turnover at these commodity bourses stood at Rs 41.45 lakh crore in the same period last year.

Much of the fall was seen in bullion followed by energy, metals and agricultural commodities, FMC data showed.

According to the FMC, the turnover from bullion fell by 73% to Rs 5,23,030 crore in April-June this year, against Rs 19,38,548 crore in the same period a year ago.

Similarly, the business from futures trading in energy commodities like crude oil declined by 70% to Rs 3,18,662 crore from Rs 10,45,990 crore, while the turnover from metals dropped by 61% to Rs 3,12,859 crore from Rs 7,93,213 crore in the review period.

The turnover from agriculture commodities also fell by 18.23% to Rs 3,00,690 crore in April-June of this year, as against Rs 3,67,711 crore in the corresponding months of 2013-14.

Analysts attributed falling volumes to higher transaction cost after the imposition of commodity transaction tax (CTT) and dent in investors' confidence in the wake of Rs 5,600 crore-payment crisis at the commodity spot exchange NSEL.

There are five national and nine regional level bourses operating in the country.