Dubai's DGCX gets boost from Shanghai Gold Futures

DUBAI - The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said Monday the recently listed DGCX Shanghai Gold Futures Contract has had a positive "knock-on effect" on the trading activity of the Exchange's other gold products.

The Shanghai Gold Futures Contract, which the exchange said uniquely allows access to the Chinese gold market, traded a total of 2,946 contracts since its listing on March 10.

DGCX's Spot Gold contract saw six-fold growth year-on-year, while also recording a 74 percent increase in deliveries through the DMCC trading platform.

"There has also been a growing optimism for gold, especially on the back of Brexit and French election uncertainty," added the exchange which is a licensed market of Dubai's biggest industrial free zone DMCC.

Following the signing of a deal between the DGCX and the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) in October 2016 during the promotional "Dubai Week in China", the listing of the Shanghai Gold Futures Contract marked "the first-ever usage of the Shanghai Gold Benchmark Price in international markets," said Gaurang Desai, CEO of the DGCX.

He added that the consistent growth of DGCX's product suite, volumes and member community "helps us to create a vibrant, exciting and well regulated marketplace for all market participants across asset classes."

Paresh Kotecha, Chairman and CEO of Dubai-based commodities trading firm Richcomm Global Services, told Xinhua in an interview "the Shanghai Gold Futures Contract has given the DGCX a decisive advantage over Singapore, because in the Southeast Asian city-state Chinese gold futures are traded over the counter, but not as a standardized futures contract."

Financial derivatives such as futures and options allow traders of an underlying commodity like gold or a currency to hedge themselves against expected price fluctuations in the future. They can also be used for speculative purposes.

The DGCX which has 46 products on its quotations list already launched Chinese yuan futures back in 2015.

In 2014, China replaced India as Dubai's biggest trade partner and has retained this lead since then.

In 2016, bilateral exchange between the trade and tourism metropolis and the world's second largest economy was worth $45.23 billion, accounting for 13 percent of Dubai's total foreign trade, according to the Dubai Customs.