DGCX to launch aluminium and zinc futures contracts on March 22

The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange and its clearing house the Dubai Commodities Clearing Corporation plans to launch aluminium and zinc future contracts on March 22. DGCX, an electronic commodity and derivatives exchange offers futures and options contracts covering the precious metals, energy, equities and currency sectors.

Commenting on the plan, Les Male, chief executive of DGCX said on Saturday, “The imminent launch of these two products is a response to growing demands and investor feedback, and will play an important role in the DGCX Group’s growth strategy moving forward.”

He expects this launch to further strengthen their value proposition in the non-ferrous metals supply chain and expand the existing product portfolio.

The aluminium and zinc future contracts will provide domestic and global investors with an opportunity to hedge prices and mitigate the risks involved in the base metal markets. The size of each aluminium futures and zinc futures contract will be 5 tonnes and will be traded in US dollars.

DGCX traded over 1.62 million contracts in February, valued at US$31.1 billion and in 2018; the exchange traded 22.26 million contracts, up 28 per cent from 2017. The total value of the contracts was US$474.94bIllion.

The best performing asset classes in 2018 were the Indian rupee (INR) product suite and the G6 currency futures. The exchange expects to leverage on the growing demand and price volatility of both aluminium and zinc.