National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange plays a pivotal role in India’s agricultural markets, as the leading futures exchange for crops. Volume has been hammered by bans on trading some foodstuffs in the wake of price rises, and by the global downturn. But as Agnieszka Troszkiewicz reports, NCDEX wants to broaden its activities and extend its reach even further into rural India.
From turmeric to natural whitish sesame seeds; from mulberry crossbreed to jute sacking bags, the futures listed at the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange are like a warehouse of India’s rich and varied agricultural produce.
Not all of the more abstruse contracts are actually used, but NCDEX still acts as an entrepôt for trade in many of the country’s most important crops – such as guar seeds, used to make guar gum, which has culinary and industrial uses; soy beans and soy oil; and pepper....