National Commodity Exchange Limited (NCEL) in association with registered brokers held road shows in Gujranwala and Lahore. The events focused on three main areas namely, the role of National Commodities Exchange in introducing commodities trade in the country by opening up new avenues and providing a platform for the investors to diversify their portfolios.
It was followed by the process of trading on the Exchange, real time pricing and lastly the broker views on the growth and potential of commodity trade as an option for investors along with the equities trading, said a press release issued here on Monday.As the commodities market is growing rapidly in Pakistan in line with international focus on commodity trading world-wide, NCEL feels there is a need for educating and creating awareness for investors in Pakistan also.
In the last year NCEL has reached new record levels with total traded value amounting to approximately Rs 200 billion and approx 700,000 contracts. Speaking at the occasion, Mansoor Ali, Chief Business Officer at the NCEL said, "Commodities trading is a fast developing market and is expanding at exponential levels in Pakistan.
The public recognises the need for diverse financial instruments and are moving towards commodities trading. In addition to a wide range of contracts in gold, trading volumes have also picked up in silver and crude oil futures as well" he further added, "currently we offer contracts in gold, silver, crude oil, IRRI - 6 rice, and Kibor Futures for trading".
Many large brokers participated in the event by putting up their desks and briefing the attendant investors of the opportunities in commodities trading, process for opening accounts and trading in commodities. Participating brokers included Asim Zafar Securities, Crosby Securities, Foundation Securities, Darson Securities (Pvt) Ltd, JS Global Securities, M Ashraf Hussain Adhi Securities (MAHA), Abbasi Securities and representatives of Unicorn securities.
These were the beginning of a series of seminars that are to follow during the year by NCEL for broker and investor support. National Commodity Exchange is Pakistan's first and only commodity and futures exchange, which is licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.