The Hindu Business Line : IPSTA launches online trading in pepper, rubber futures

THE online trading in pepper and futures trading in rubber was launched by the India Pepper and Spice Trade Association here on Monday by the Spices Board Chairman, Mr C. J. Jose.

Presiding over the inaugural function, Mr Kewal Ram, Chairman, Forward Markets Commission, said the commodities market would witness intense competition in the near future following the emergence of international players in the Indian scenario.

The arrival of foreign players in the commodities market will also lead to more acquisitions and mergers, he said.

As the liberalised markets had accelerated the pace of change he said organisations would need to continuously innovate and re-invent themselves.

Therefore, there was a need to have an inbuilt system to promote innovations, he said .

In his address, Mr Kishor Shamji, President, IPSTA, said the association had got permission to start futures trading in chillies and turmeric.

With the commodity trading becoming a barometer of the market trends, the notion about the commodity markets were undergoing a drastic change. He pointed out that the online trading system would result in greater transparency, wider geographical reach, wider participation, growth in membership and offer a fair competition to the other commodity exchanges.

Mr C.J. Jose, Chairman of the Spices Board, suggested that vanilla could be considered for commodities and futures trading and he also highlighted the need for harnessing technological advances in the trading services sector.

Mr A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish, Managing Director, Kerala State Marketing Federation, disclosed that the Marketfed intended to enter the spices trade in a big way. He reminded the officials that a lot of procedural system would have to be changed for achieving integration with the global system.

Mr N. Radhakrishnan, President of the Cochin Rubber Merchants Association, cautioned the members of the trading commodity against adopting any unfair methods.