Commexes' turnover drops 41% in Apr-Feb

Bullion the biggest loser, volumes lower due to higher transaction cost, better returns in other financial markets

The turnover of the commodity exchanges declined by 41 per cent to Rs 56.43 lakh crore in the April-February period of this fiscal due to sluggish investor participation in most commodities, says FMC data.

These exchanges had made a business of Rs 95.13 lakh crore in the same period of corresponding year, sectoral regulator Forward Markets Commission (FMC) said in a statement.

The maximum fall was witnessed in bullion, followed by energy, metals and agricultural commodities.

The trade volumes have been lower due to higher transaction cost and better returns in other financial markets, experts said.

As per FMC's latest data, the turnover from bullion fell by 51 per cent to Rs 20.05 lakh crore in April-February of 2014-15 fiscal, from Rs 40.83 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

Similarly, business from energy items declined by 37 per cent to Rs 14.84 lakh crore from Rs 23.39 lakh crore, while the turnover from metals dropped by 30 per cent to Rs 11.61 lakh crore from Rs 16.46 lakh crore in the review period.

The turnover from agricultural commodities also declined by 31.34 per cent to Rs 9.92 lakh crore in April-February of this year from Rs 14.44 lakh crore in the same period last year, the data showed.

Currently, there are four national and six regional level commodity futures exchanges in the country.