Chief Executive Officer, Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said that Bursa Malaysia is indeed grateful for the level of co-operation and support built between the exchange and the Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities through the years. The co-operation has certainly been valuable in charting the success of the national economy.
As a Futures and Options Exchange, Bursa Malaysia Derivatives has established a reputation for being a market with the necessary capacity and capabilities for servicing the needs of the international investing community.
“Underscoring this, we have seen very encouraging interest in the derivatives trading for this year. It has been an exciting year in the derivatives market.
“Trading volume in derivatives hit a historical high of 284,429 contracts registered in May 2004, compared to the highest trading record of 246,554 contracts registered in October 2003. “Trading volume was up 55.34% at over 2 million contracts for all derivatives products in 2003 as compared to about 1.3 million contracts in 2002.
“Specific to Crude Palm Oil Futures (FCPO) - the total volume of trade in FCPO, cumulative to date, grew by 44.60 % as at market close on 2 February 2004 compared to 2 February 2003, and grew 14.5% as at market close on 30 July 2004 compared to 30 July 2003. In fact, FCPO recorded its highest volume on 21st October 2003, with total volume of 14,508 contracts. This is the highest gain for FCPO, in 23 years since its inception in 1980, “Yusli said.
FCPO is the most successful futures contract for the palm oil industry, and the second largest futures contract in the world oils and fats industry.
It is the Exchange's mission to be the catalyst in the development of the derivatives industry in Malaysia. In conjunction with the visit, the Minister presented a cheque for the Annual Palm and Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition: Price Outlook Conference (POC) 2004/2005 Contest.
The Price Outlook Contest, sponsored by the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC), was held in concurrence with the Price Outlook Conference (POC) 2004/2005. This has been an additional feature of the conference since its inception in 1989. The contest encourages delegates to put to use the information attained during the session with the theme of the conference which was, price projection for the palm oil industry.
This year’s contest requested participants to predict the settlement prices (in RM) of the Crude Palm Oil Futures contracts at the end of trading day on 26 April 2004.The winner, Raja Norrashidah binti Raja Honram from PPB Oil Palms Berhad was presented with prize money of RM5,000.
Apart from creating an interesting element for the conference, the contest also gives the opportunity for Bursa Malaysia and MPOPC to foster closer ties and raise the profile of the industry.
The Annual Palm and Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition: Price Outlook Conference is one of the biggest conferences of this kind which is organised by Bursa Malaysia and endorsed by the Ministry. Held in March 2004, the conference attracted over 1,200 participants and 13 speakers who are industry experts from around the world.
“POC has truly become a unique international event, offering the best of Malaysia to the world. With this, we are looking forward for the POC 2005/2006 which is scheduled to be held between 2 to 4 March 2005 at Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
“With the continued support and commitment from industry and market participants, in Malaysia and internationally, we are looking forward to another year of strong growth and positive developments, “Yusli said.
