Safex has been looking at the possible introduction of new commodities for a long time, as all businesses should keep expanding their options and not stagnate.
This is according to Rod Blondin, senior agricultural manager at Safex. R ecent media reports on the possibility of other commodities on the futures market have sparked renewed interest. Blondin, however, denied rumours that Safex will announce new commodities for trade within the next month. “is constantly looking at new commodities that can be listed, but it [the commodity] needs to be something that can be standardised. Commodities listed must also form a large part of the industry as there needs to be a reasonable amount of buyers and sellers,” he explained.
Ferdi Meyer, senior lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Pretoria and Bureau for Food and Policy, said it could be a wonderful move if Safex did start trading with other commodities. Meyer stressed the fact that it would be very important for all parties – big or small – to have the same power on the futures market. “For something like cattle, this would be a wonderful thing – you would have lots of marketing flexibility,” he said, adding that this would help with the stability of prices. – Susan Botes
