Business   

UPASI to start futures trading

By Our Staff Correspondent

KOLKATA MARCH 11. The much talked about futures trading in tea is set to commence by June this year. While the system software and hardware deals are yet to be finalised, the United Planters' Association of Southern India (UPASI) has taken an in-principle decision to make it an on-line trading platform from the beginning. Set to be on a V-Sat platform, initially four hubs may be opened at three South Indian auction centres and Kolkata.

Talking to The Hindu, UPASI sources said there were also some discussions on connecting the futures trading platform to the forthcoming Tea Board platform connecting all the tea auction centres. The Tea Board platform, being set up by IBM, is scheduled to be operational by the year-end.

Originally scheduled to be operational by March, futures trading was delayed due to the ongoing crisis in South Indian tea industry. Aware of the apprehensions of the industry as to whether futures trading is suitable for tea which has innumerable grades, the sources said initially trading would be restricted to four identified grades to be expanded later. "Going by the experience of the commodity exchange we are sure futures will be successful in tea".

Yet to decide whether trading hubs will be added in phases or at one go, the sources said in either case futures auction centre would be on an on-line platform from the very beginning. Similarly, the decision for a V-Sat based network was taken following connectivity problems foreseen in WAN network in some South Indian centres.

Meanwhile, the association has noted that South Indian auction centres have a higher price recovery, Rs. 10, following the introduction of the Tea Marketing Control Order, 2003. The higher recovery, however, brings little cheer as the industry price average of Rs. 41 is still below the cost of production. "I do not foresee any dramatic change in the fundamentals in 2003," P. S. Wallia, President, UPASI, said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Inaccurate budget projections
• Jaitley initiates dialogue with CEOs
• UPASI to start futures trading
• Honda to renew pact with Hero Group
• Phoenix ties up with Telco
• Staggering dues of SEBs with Railways
• Good response to Corp. Bank's home loan fairs
• TCS opens office in Buffalo New York
• AirTel launches GPRS, MMS services
• Instrumentation staff against privatisation
• Usha Intl.'s plans
• Banks asked to comply with forex revaluation norms
• Stock Market Index
• Exchange rates
• Bullion rates

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu