Commexes' turnover down 4.66% in Apr-May: FMC

The turnover of the commodity exchanges rose by 4.66% to Rs 28,16,133 crore in April-May period of this fiscal on account of sharp increase in trading volumes in energy items like crude oil, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

The commodity bourses had seen a turnover of Rs 26,90,834 crore in the same period last year.

Maximum of the business has come from futures trading in energy commodities like crude oil besides gold and silver. However, the trading volumes remained lower in base metals as well as in agricultural items, commodity markets regulator FMC said in a statement.

The turnover from energy items like crude rose by 40.27% to Rs 6,83,963 crore in April-May period of 2013-14 fiscal, against Rs 4,87,617 crore in the year-ago period.

Similarly, the business from gold and silver commodities increased marginally by 4.23% to Rs 13,52,512  crore in the review period from Rs 12,97,572 crore in the year-ago period.

However, the turnover of agricultural items fell by 26.46% to Rs 2,53,738 crore in April-May of FY14 from Rs 3,45,032 crore in the same month last fiscal.

The business from metals like copper fell marginally by 6.19% to Rs 5,25,918 crore in April-May FY14 from Rs 5,60,612 crore in the corresponding period previous fiscal.

There are 22 commodity bourses in the country, of which six of them operate at national level. The combined turnover of these bourses stood at Rs 170,46,840 crore in the 2012-13 fiscal, down by six% from the previous fiscal.