National Spot Exchange

 

Products 

National Spot Exchange is providing an unbiased and state-of-art platform for buying and selling of commodities. Commodities traded on National Spot Exchange include agricultural commodities, bullions, metals and some Industrial products (to be introduced later). Commodity is traded in contract form, which has standard quality specification. All contracts are of single day duration having different settlement cycle depending upon the commodity and market practices. The Exchange offers two types of contract (Farmer’s contract and trader’s contract) in agriculture commodity. Farmer’s contract is market cess unpaid and has smaller lot size to facilitate even a marginal farmer to sell their produce. Trader’s contract is market cess paid and usually has larger trading lot size. A commodity may have multiple contracts based on the market location, settlement cycle and lot size.

 

Arecanut            Bajra            Barley            Black Pepper Castor Oil        Castor Seed    Chana

 

Copper             Copra            Cotton Bales            Cottonseed Wash Oil            Cumin Seed    Gold    

 

Groundnut (Peanuts) GuarGum            GuarSeed        Maize            Masoor            Moong

 

Paddy (Rice) Rajma  RBD Palmolein            RMSeed          Silver            Soybean          Steel

 

Sugar   Tur             Urad            Wheat            Yellow Peas

 

Main aim of the Exchange is to bring a large number of buyers and sellers on the same platform for spot price discovery and to make sure that the commodity bought and sold on the Exchange is delivered on time without the counter-party risks to the traders.

The potential participants / traders on the Exchange can be farmers, farmers co-operatives, corporate, wholesalers, exporters, Importers, processors, co-operatives / associations, government etc.

 

Market timings

Trading on the Commodities takes place on all days of the week (except Sundays and holidays declared by the Exchange). The market timings for trading on the online platform of the Exchange are as under :

 

Products

Monday to Friday

Saturday

AGRI

10.00 to 18.00

10:00 to 14:00

NON-AGRI

10:00 to 23:30

10:00 to 14:00

Intraday Contracts (Agri / non-agri)

10:00 to 16:00

-

E-Series Product

10:00 to 23:30

-

Auction Contract

Products

Monday to Friday

Saturday

Cotton Bales

17.00 to 17.40

-

Silver

17:00 to 17:40

13:00 to 13:40

HAFED - Bajra, Basmati Paddy, Paddy and Rice Contracts

12:00 to 15:00

-

NAFED- Rajma & Whole Toor

12:00 to 15:00

-

Ball Copra

12:00 to 15:00

-

Sugar

10:00 to 11:50
and 18:00 to 19:30

-

FCI Wheat auction contracts for various Delhi FSDs traded from 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM on the Wednesdays as notify by FCI.

Some other Contracts timings:

Commodity

Symbol

Trade timing

Monday to Friday

Saturday

Gold Medallion

MMTCGL8DEL

10:30 to 16:30

-

RBD Palmolein

RBDGOKUL9
RBDGOKUL9
RBDGUJOIL9

10:00 to 17:00

10:00 to 14:00

Masoor

MASOORKOL5

10:00 to 19:00

-

Tur Malavi

TURMLWCHE5

10:00 to 19:00

-

Kapas (Raw Cotton)

FKAPASMAH0

10:00 to 20:00

10:00 to 14:00

 

SETTLEMENT CALENDER (DEMAT SEGMENT) FOR DECEMBER 2010

In terms of the provisions of Rules, Bye-Laws and Business Rules of the Exchange the Settlement Calendar for the month of December 2010 for the Demat segment has been notified as under:

DEMATERIALIZED SEGMENT

Market

Market Description

Settlement Cycle

Annexure

Normal

T+2

T+2

1

Auction

T+2 - AU

T+2

2

 

Members please be noted that while calculating the settlement cycle, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays are not considered. The settlement cycle details of the above contract are mentioned in the respective circulars.

Annexure – 1

SETTLEMENT CALENDAR FOR DECEMBER 2010

Normal- Compulsory Dematerialized Segment Settlement Cycle : T+2

Trade Date

Market Description

Settlement No.

Settlement Cycle

Commodity & Funds Pay-in

1:00 PM

Commodity & Funds Pay-out on / after 5:30 PM

1-Dec-10

T+2

2010184

T+2

3-Dec-10

3-Dec-10

2-Dec-10

T+2

2010185

T+2

6-Dec-10

6-Dec-10

3-Dec-10

T+2

2010186

T+2

7-Dec-10

7-Dec-10

6-Dec-10

T+2

2010187

T+2

8-Dec-10

8-Dec-10

7-Dec-10

T+2

2010188

T+2

9-Dec-10

9-Dec-10

8-Dec-10

T+2

2010189

T+2

10-Dec-10

10-Dec-10

9-Dec-10

T+2

2010190

T+2

13-Dec-10

13-Dec-10

10-Dec-10

T+2

2010191

T+2

14-Dec-10

14-Dec-10

13-Dec-10

T+2

2010192

T+2

15-Dec-10

15-Dec-10

14-Dec-10

T+2

2010193

T+2

16-Dec-10

16-Dec-10

15-Dec-10

T+2

2010194

T+2

20-Dec-10

20-Dec-10

16-Dec-10

T+2

2010195

T+2

21-Dec-10

21-Dec-10

17-Dec-10

T+2

2010196

T+2

21-Dec-10

21-Dec-10

20-Dec-10

T+2

2010197

T+2

22-Dec-10

22-Dec-10

21-Dec-10

T+2

2010198

T+2

23-Dec-10

23-Dec-10

22-Dec-10

T+2

2010199

T+2

24-Dec-10

24-Dec-10

23-Dec-10

T+2

2010200

T+2

27-Dec-10

27-Dec-10

24-Dec-10

T+2

2010201

T+2

28-Dec-10

28-Dec-10

27-Dec-10

T+2

2010202

T+2

29-Dec-10

29-Dec-10

28-Dec-10

T+2

2010203

T+2

30-Dec-10

30-Dec-10

29-Dec-10

T+2

2010204

T+2

31-Dec-10

31-Dec-10

30-Dec-10

T+2

2010205

T+2

3-Jan-11

3-Jan-11

31-Dec-10

T+2

2010206

T+2

4-Jan-11

4-Jan-11


3

Annexure – 2

SETTLEMENT CALENDAR FOR DECEMBER 2010

Auction- Compulsory Dematerialized Segment Settlement Cycle : T+2

Trade Date

Market Description

Settlement No.

Settlement Cycle

Commodity & Funds Pay-in

1:00 PM

Commodity & Funds Pay-out on / after 5:30 PM

1-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010177

T+2

3-Dec-10

3-Dec-10

2-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010178

T+2

6-Dec-10

6-Dec-10

3-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010179

T+2

7-Dec-10

7-Dec-10

6-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010180

T+2

8-Dec-10

8-Dec-10

7-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010181

T+2

9-Dec-10

9-Dec-10

8-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010182

T+2

10-Dec-10

10-Dec-10

9-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010183

T+2

13-Dec-10

13-Dec-10

10-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010184

T+2

14-Dec-10

14-Dec-10

13-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010185

T+2

15-Dec-10

15-Dec-10

14-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010186

T+2

16-Dec-10

16-Dec-10

15-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010187

T+2

20-Dec-10

20-Dec-10

16-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010188

T+2

21-Dec-10

21-Dec-10

20-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010189

T+2

22-Dec-10

22-Dec-10

21-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010190

T+2

23-Dec-10

23-Dec-10

22-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010191

T+2

24-Dec-10

24-Dec-10

23-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010192

T+2

27-Dec-10

27-Dec-10

24-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010193

T+2

28-Dec-10

28-Dec-10

27-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010194

T+2

29-Dec-10

29-Dec-10

28-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010195

T+2

30-Dec-10

30-Dec-10

29-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010196

T+2

31-Dec-10

31-Dec-10

30-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010197

T+2

3-Jan-11

3-Jan-11

31-Dec-10

T+2 AU

2010198

T+2

4-Jan-11

4-Jan-11

 

 


Market Types

 

The National Exchange for Spot Trading (NEST) system supports two types of markets.

  • Spot Market

·         Auction Market

 

Spot market

 

In Spot market, single day trading contracts are traded. The contracts open every day for trading and the position open at the end of the trading session results into the compulsory delivery of the commodity traded. The electronic Spot market platform is many-to-many market structure. For each contract, Exchange has identified a particular delivery location or additional warehouses where the commodities can be delivered and lifted by the sellers and buyers respectively.


The seller willing to sell agri- commodity on the Exchange platform will be required to bring the commodity to the Exchange warehouse where weighment and quality certification is done. The quality certification is done by the quality certifying agent based at the exchange warehouse. The commodity is allowed for trading on the Exchange platform only if the quality of the commodity is as per the contract specification of the Exchange. For withdrawal of the commodity from the Exchange designated warehouse, the buyers are required to give at least 1 day prior intimation to the warehouse for necessary arrangements. Based on the intimation received from the withdrawer, delivery schedule will be intimated by the warehouse supervisor. Loading of commodity will be done on first cum first serve basis.


At the time of lifting the delivery from the exchange warehouse the buyer member needs to submit the Letter of Authority requesting the Warehouse manager to issue the delivery of Commodity to the bearer of the Authority Letter along with original Copy of the Warehouse Receipt. The buyer has to instruct their representative to carry some identity Proof (ID proof of his representative such as Voter ID / PAN/ Passport to enable the Exchange) along with the Authority Letter and Original Warehouse Receipt for lifting the stock from the accredited warehouse. For spot trading in the bullions, the same procedure is followed as in the Agri-commodity. The Exchange accredited vaults are the delivery centres for the bullions.

 

Auction Market

 

In the auction market, the electronic bidding is open for the specific brand of commodity for few hours during the day. The auction market structure is one to many. Auction trading mechanism is further divided into two forward auction and reverse auction. In forward auctions a single seller is selling their resources to multiple buyers. Alternately, in reverse auctions, a single buyer is sourcing resources from multiple suppliers, as is common in procurement.


Under the forward auction mechanism, the registered seller posts the requirements online for bids, where a large number of buyers can submit their bids. During the auction session, the seller submit sale quantity and floor price in the trading terminal. The participating buyers can see the quantity of the commodity on the sale but the floor prices are not visible. The buyers then submit their buy bids along with the quantity. The quantity and prices of top 5 bidders will always be reflected in the trading screen. Buyers can revise their bids by reducing or increasing quantity and price. But, during last 5 minutes, they are allowed only to increase the price or increase the quantity but not to reduce it. Similarly, the seller cannot increase his price or reduce his quantity during last 5 minutes. At the end of the auctioning session, the system will automatically match the sale and buy orders at the highest possible price based on submitted buy order prices, if and only if, they are higher than the floor price submitted by the seller.


Under the reverse auction mechanism, the registered buyers post the requirements online for bids, where a large number of sellers can submit their bids. The value of bids from the sellers will be decreasing as the competition among the seller's increases. The sale will go to the bidder that meets or exceeds the buyer's best value requirements. The reverse auction mechanism provides dynamic, real-time competition among sellers, resulting in significant cost savings, auditable transaction data, and improved process efficiency for the procurement of commodity.

 

 

Actively traded metals products :

 

For the first time in India, National Spot Exchange (NSEL) has introduced investment products called E-Series in commodities. Retail investors can trade and investment in commodities like they invest in the equities on an Exchange platform.


Investment products in commodities enable investors to invest their small savings into commodities in demat form. NSEL has conceptualized such contracts, which are delivered on T + 2 basis. The contracts launched under E-series are E-Gold, E-Silver and E-Copper. Going forward, NSEL is looking at launching more commodities under e-series. E Gold is tradable in multiple of 1 gram of gold, 100 grams of E and 1 kg of copper.

 

E-Series products in gold, silver and copper from NSEL are backed by physical delivery and are stored in the exchange's secured warehouses/vaults, while trading takes place in demat form. An investor can trade in these investment products after opening a demat account with any of NSEL's empanelled DPs. E-Gold and e-Silver are ideal products for retail investors, who want to invest small amounts in gold and silver. These investors can take advantage of recent rally of gold and silver. Moreover, e-Gold and e-Silver gives investors the option and facility to take physical delivery across various locations in India at a single price without having to worry of either purity or weight. E-Gold and E-Silver are demat units of the physical gold and silver which are traded in electronic form at NSEL. The very concept of e-series products is to provide investors a mechanism whereby they own the commodity which is reflected through their demat accounts while the equivalent physical commodity is maintained at the Exchange’s designated vaults. There is a growing demand for a cash segment in commodities from retail investors.

 

 

 

Investing in Silver Electronic Way

 

Investing in silver electronically or through Index Funds had not been possible in India till recently. Over the recent months, there has been a noticeable increase in the popularity of silver. Not only is it gaining against various currencies, but it also seems to be outperforming gold, it is most favourite counterpart. Many experts feel that, silver could prove to be a better investment alternative than gold, as it requires lesser capital, and provides an equally good hedge against inflation and economic volatility.

 

So how do you invest in Silver?

 

Up to a couple of years back, the only way to invest in silver was to physically buy them from the store. With the opening up of newer trading mechanisms in the last few years, more ways of purchasing silver have emerged. E-Silver, an initiative of National Spot Exchange Limited or NSEL, now lets you invest in silver electronically. So instead of just stocking up those silver bars and jewellery in your safe deposit locker, E-Silver could well serve your purpose. It could satisfy your traditional requirements as well as add value to your portfolio.

 

The E-Silver Product

 

Part of NSELs E-series, E-Silver lets you purchase physical silver of 99.9 percent purity electronically and hold them in demat form. You could buy and accumulate silver in small denominations of up to 100 grams, and even liquidate them into physical form if required. The physical silver involved in the trade is stored by NSEL in Exchange Designated Vaults.

 

Features of E-silver

 

Assured safety of the metal at nil storage costs. NSEL recently waived the storage costs associated with E-Silver contracts, making it an attractive and cheaper investment option.

 

Assured purity of 99.9 percent.

 

Available in small denominations. E-silver could be traded in denominations as low as 100 grams each, making it affordable even to small retail investors.

 

Option of taking physical delivery of the metal in the form of silver bar or coin, if required at any point of time. Delivery of physical silver could be in multiples of 500 grams, 1 Kg or 5 kg, at NSEL centers.

 

Simple and seamless process of buying and selling. Trading could be done easily through any empanelled depositary participants. Some DPs also offer trading facilities through telephone or online trading terminals.

 

Investment Procedure

 

For investing in the E-series, you would require a separate demat account with any one of the empanelled Depository Participants or DP of the NSEL. The list of DPs could be found on the NSEL website (www.nationalspotexchange.com/eseries.htm) Trade Settlements of the E-Series is similar to that of equities, of T plus 2 days.

 

Charges Associated

 

All investments in E-series attract a custody charge, which includes vault and insurance charges, of 60 paise per month. Charges are applicable on the number of units held in the demat account on the last Saturday of every month. Suppose an investor buys and sells his units during the course of the month, and holds nil units on the last Saturday of the month, no custody charge is to be paid. During conversion of units to physical silver, unit holders would have to pay VAT/GST and other local taxes, as applicable in the place of delivery. For delivery of silver in the form of coins, the exchange would also levy making and packing charges.

 

E-Silver, a Silver Lining to Your Portfolio

 

When we look at the price of silver, ending 30-Sep-2010, the metal closed at Rs 33,350 per kg versus last years closing of Rs 26,040 on the same date. The price of the metal has appreciated by around 28 pecent. Though considered more volatile than gold, the metal has the potential to appreciate more than gold, owing to its increasing industrial demand. Of course given the current Bull Run, the risks associated with investment in any metal, looms over a silver investment too. On the positive side, whether you are looking for a diversification in your portfolio or for marriage and ceremonial requirements, E-silver could well be a good option, without having to be bogged down by issues such as security. Its transparent and simple mechanism is a value for your money and portfolio.