Commexes' turnover drops 42% in Apr-Jan of this fiscal

Biggest fall in bullion (53%) followed by energy, metals and agricultural commodities

The turnover of the commodity exchanges fell by over 42 per cent to Rs 51.26 lakh crore during the April-January period of this fiscal due to sharp decline in trade volumes of most commodities, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

These exchanges generated a business of Rs 89 lakh crore in the same period a year ago, the commodity markets regulator's recent data showed.

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

According to the FMC's data, the turnover from bullion fell by 53 per cent to Rs 18.26 lakh crore in the April-January period of this fiscal, as against Rs 38.73 lakh crore a year earlier.

Similarly, the business from energy items like crude oil declined by 39 per cent to Rs 13.14 lakh crore from Rs 21.52 lakh crore, while the turnover in metals like copper dropped by over 32 per cent to Rs 10.63 lakh crore from Rs 15.70 lakh crore in the review period.

The business from agricultural commodities also fell by 30 per cent to Rs 9.20 lakh crore in the April-January period of 2014-15 fiscal, as against Rs 13 lakh crore in the same period last year.

The trading volumes in the commodity futures market have been declining for the last couple of months due to lack of volatility in prices, which forced investors shift to stock market. Also, high transaction cost has affected the participation, experts said.

At present, four national and six regional level commodity exchanges operate in the country.