The Indian Commodity Exchange Limited (ICEX) has announced that it is launching a monthly futures contract for steel long products covering billets and ingot after six years of absence on the exchange. Previously, futures contracts were managed by National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX). Their last steel contract was valid until August 17, 2012.
The platform is registered at Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and will initially focus on non-BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) ingot and billets with future expansion into BIS products upon approval of SEBI.
According to ICEX`s Regional head (East) Shirshendu Majumdar, SEBI has established margin trades at 5 percent for launch with potential future increases. Majumdar added that the product will help hedge risk for manufacturers and investors as commodity prices fluctuate, especially as prices in India have strengthened in the past 12-18 months.