DUBAI, 21 February 2007 — Two key trading platforms in Dubai have announced the launch of their contracts in May. While the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) will launch a long-awaited Oman oil futures contract on May 1, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has also announced that it will launch a steel futures contract in early May.
The Oman oil contract is the first for crude futures to have the backing of a Middle East producer. Oman has pledged to drop its policy of pricing its crude retroactively and to use the new crude futures contract instead. The launch of trading on DME is still subject to the approval of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). Delays in the approval pushed the start date for trading to May from March, industry sources said.
“We are very confident of meeting the launch date, the approval process is on track,” the DME’s Chief Executive Gary King said yesterday.
At DGCX, the Dubai steel contract will be for 10 tons of grade W460 reinforcing bar (rebar) of 12 meters. It will be priced in dollars per ton and deliverable to warehouses in Dubai and possibly Abu Dhabi. The contract’s launch has been repeatedly delayed.
