The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) is likely to start regular trading in diamond futures by end of this month or by first week of September. The commencement of diamond futures trading will help to manage price risk in a much better manner. The exchange has launched mock trading sessions from August 7 and will continue till August 11. This step has been taken in order to help traders and investors gear up for the actual trading.
The mock sessions will help participants from across the diamond industry, which consists of manufacturers or diamantaires (as owners of cutting and polishing units are called), wholesalers, traders, brokers, retailers and jewellery fabricators to utilize the platform as an effective tool of hedging their physical trades.
ICEX is promoted by a mix of public-private partnership comprising PSUs including MMTC, Indian Potash, Krishak Bharti Cooperative (Kribhco) and IDFC Bank, among others.