MUMBAI: The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange(NCDEX) on Tuesday said it will relaunch futures contract of natural whitish sesame seeds (til) on Wednesday. The til futures contract would be made available for trading from August 26, with Unjha (Gujarat) as the basis centre and Rajkot (Gujarat) as the additional delivery centre, adding one more product to the exchange’s oil seeds portfolio, NCDEX said in a statement.
The futures contracts for til will be available for the expiry months of October, November and December 2020, it added.
“We have always strived to introduce new business opportunities for farmers and value chain participants (VCPs). India is a major exporter of sesame seeds and holds huge potential in this space.
“The launch of this contract will provide an appropriate intervention to increasing the productivity of sesame seeds to boost farm profitability and widen the country’s export basket. The diversification of the oil seeds contracts will enable VCPs to foray into an additional asset for trading,” NCDEX MD and CEO Vijay Kumar said.
India is the third largest producer of sesame seeds and as per FAOSTAT (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), India enjoys a global share of 12 per cent of the sesame seeds trade.
So absence of sesame seeds futures contracts globally would expose VCPs to the uncertainties in the commodity trade, the statement said.
The relaunch of sesame seed futures contract could create a global benchmark for price indicators not only domestic but also international participants, NCDEX said.
According to government data, the export of sesame seeds during April 2019-March 2020 was 2,82,236 tonnes, valued at Rs 3,723 crore.
According to the Agriculture Ministry‘s data, the average market size of sesame in India in the last five years has been Rs 7,280 crore.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are the leading producers of sesame seeds, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Gujarat, respectively.
Collectively, these states produce more than 83 per cent of the total sesame production in India.
“The ever-growing health-food product market, backed with evolving consumer consumption patterns, has spurt a demand for sesame, which is rich in vitamins and minerals.
“We see a substantial scope for the product and are hopeful that a sesame futures contract will help VCPs to discover a fair price in regulated and transparent market space,” NCDEX Head of Business and Products Kapil Dev said.
With the availability of sesame seeds futures contracts, VCPs will be in a better position to make informed decisions while trading, he added.