Ever since the dawn of civilization commodities trading have become an integral part in the lives of mankind. The very reason for this lies in the fact that commodities represent the fundamental elements of utility for human beings. Over the years commodities markets have been experiencing tremendous progress, which is evident from the fact that the trade in this segment is standing as the boon for the global economy today. The promising nature of these markets has made them an attractive investment avenue for investors. Earlier investors invested in those companies, which specialized in the production of commodities. This accounted for the indirect investments in commodity assets.
The commodity based products offer a huge array of benefits that include offering risk-return trade-offs to investors, providing information on market trends and assisting in framing asset allocation strategies. Commodity investments are always considered as defensive because during the times of inflation, which adversely affects the performance of stocks and bonds, commodities provide a defense to investors, maintaining the performance of their portfolios.
Commodity markets have a huge potential in the Indian context particularly because of the agri-based economy. With the government's initiative for agricultural liberalization, commodities' trading in India has gained increased momentum in activities. To increase the efficiency of the markets the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the governing body of commodities trading in India has taken several initiatives for the establishment of national level multi-commodity exchanges in India.
