The Hindu Business Line : MCX launches futures trading in basmati

Mr Ekanath K. Thakur, MP (Rajya Sabha) and President, Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce & Industry, put the first symbolic trade in basmati rice contract, in the presence of Mr K.S. Money, Chairman, Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, at the SAARC Rice Expo 2004 — `International Conference on Rice'.

To start with, MCX has launched January, February and March 2005 contracts with contract duration of four months, a MCX press release said.

Basmati rice contract has several unique features, which would enable the players in the industry to efficiently mitigate their price risk, it said. Trading and delivery unit has been kept at 10 tonnes to encourage participation from all sections of the trading community.

Price has been quoted per quintal ex-Delhi, which is the benchmark price for the industry. A small tick-size would facilitate factoring of small variations in the supply and demand of basmati and the delivery would be in 50-kg new jute bag, machine stitched and the delivery centre would be at the exchange approved warehouse at Delhi.

Basmati rice is best known for its characteristic long-grain, subtle aroma and delicious taste.

India is the largest producer and exporter of basmati rice in the world and produces annually around 10-15 lakh tonnes, of which around two-thirds is exported, according to the release.

Basmati is grown exclusively in northern part of Western Punjab (on both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border), Haryana, Uttaranchal and Western Uttar Pradesh.

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