MINSK, 11 October (BelTA) - This year, the exchange trade has been growing across all commodity groups, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange Andrei Novikov said at the annual web-based conference of the International Association of Futures Markets, spokesman for the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) spokeswoman Roman Yaniv told BelTA.
The event brought together managers and top managers of commodity and currency exchanges, clearing houses and financial institutions from around the world.
“This year, the exchange trade bas been growing across all commodity groups., the coronavirus pandemic, contrary to pessimistic forecasts, has contributed to the growth of the exchange segment of the commodity market, as in the case of e-commerce, rather than slowed it down. With borders closed and people working in a remote mode, companies have turned to online tools and solutions, including the exchange platform. For example, for many Belarusian exporters the exchange has become an alternative sales channel, thanks to which they were able to maintain sales at the pre-pandemic level and event to step them up. The same applies to foreign bidders who appreciated the advantages of the mechanism of transit transactions and began to apply it on a regular basis," Andrei Novikov said.
He also highlighted the growing geography of supplies of Belarusian lumber, rapeseed oil, beet pulp and molasses, dairy products, steel bars and leather products. Domestic exchange sales were on the rise too, especially in such items as coal, feed additives, cereals, meat, plant protection products.
The high demand for the Belarusian stock exchange is backed up by statistics. Thus, the total amount of transactions made at BUCE in January-September of this year amounted to $2.4 billion, up by 62% year-on-year. Of these, export transactions totaled $564 million, up by 76% year-on-year. BUCE's customer base has also increased: as of 1 October 2021, 26,878 companies were accredited at BUCE, including 5,372 non-residents from 67 countries.
The Association of Futures Markets (AFM) is a not-for-profit association formally established in 1998 by 10 members: Budapest Commodity Exchange, the Central Clearing House and Depository Ltd. of Budapest, the Romanian Commodities Exchange, the Buenos Aires Futures Exchange, the Amsterdam Commodity Exchange, South African Futures Exchange, the Warsaw Commodity Exchange and the Malaysian Derivatives Exchange). The prime objective of the Association is to promote and encourage the establishment of new derivative and related markets and to organize international conferences in order to promote communication among members, to strengthen their relationship and to transfer information and experience among them. BUCE has been a full member of the association since 2011.
Founded in 2004, the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange conducted its first trading session in June 2005. BUCE is one of the largest commodity exchanges in Eastern Europe. Its main function is to assist Belarusian enterprises with export and foreign companies with entering the Belarusian market. BUCE sells a wide range of metal, forestry, and agricultural products, industrial and consumer goods.
