Commexes turnover nosedived by 60 per cent to Rs 2.84 lakh crore during the first fortnight of October, according to the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

Experts attributed the significant drop in trading volumes at the commodity exchanges to shaken investor confidence in futures market after the NSEL fiasco deepened.

The exchanges had done business of Rs 7.09 lakh crore in the first fortnight of October last year, commodity market regulator FMC said in a statement.

The maximum fall in business this year was seen in energy, followed by metals, bullion and agri commodities.

Total value of trading in energy fell by 68 per cent to Rs 56,539 crore during October 1-15 period of this fiscal, from Rs 1,76,686 crore in the same period last year.

Similarly, the business from metals dropped by 62.56 per cent to Rs 44,868 crore from Rs 1,19,825 crore, while the turnover from bullion declined by 61.92 per cent to Rs 1,19,303 crore from Rs 3,13,274 crore in the review period.

The turnover from agri commodities too fell by 36 per cent to Rs 63,557 crore in the first fortnight of October in this fiscal as compared to Rs 1,00,055 crore in the year-ago period.

There are 21 commodity exchanges in the country, of which six of them operate at the national level. They include MCX, NCDEX, NMCE, UCEX, ACE and ICEX.

Jignesh Shah-led National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) is facing problems settling Rs 5,600 crore of dues to 13,000 investors after the spot commodity bourse suspended trading in some contracts in July on directions from the government. Three former NSEL officials have been arrested by the Mumbai Police.

The combined turnover of commodity exchanges had fallen by 25 per cent to Rs 65.68 lakh crore in the first six months (April-September) of 2013-14 due to a sharp decline in trading volumes in most commodities.

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