Commexes' turnover drops 43% till Jan 15 of this fiscal

The turnover of commodity exchanges fell by 43% to Rs 48.54 lakh crore till January 15 of the current fiscal due to poor participation, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

These exchanges had made a business of Rs 85.28 lakh crore between April and January 15 of the last financial year.

According to the latest data released by commodity markets regulator FMC, there was fall in business in almost all commodities.

The maximum decline in turnover was reported in bullion, metals, energy and agricultural commodities.

The turnover from bullion fell by 54% to Rs 17.17 lakh crore during April-January 15 of this fiscal as against Rs 37.39 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

Similarly, the business from base metals like copper declined by 39% to Rs 12.48 lakh crore from Rs 20.49 lakh crore, while the turnover from energy items fell by 34% to Rs 10.07 lakh crore from Rs 15.14 lakh crore in the review period.

The turnover from agriculture commodities dropped by 28% to Rs 8.81 lakh crore during the April-January 15 period of this fiscal as against Rs 12.25 lakh crore in the same period corresponding year, the data showed.

Experts said lack of volatility in commodities market and high transaction cost has kept many investors at bay while Rs 5,600 crore scam at the commodity spot exchange NSEL has also dented investor confidence.

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