Singapore Exchange ( SICOM) rubber futures had a successful first week of trading on the derivative market. Open interest increased by more than 25% in the third week of May 2011 to a daily average of 11,389 contracts versus the month of April. Due to a short week and the transition of these contracts from SICOM to SGX, the daily average volume for the week was 500 contracts.

The trading of SICOM TSR 20 and SICOM RSS 3 rubber futures on SGX is expected to increase international participation. The rubber contracts have a history dating back to the 1920s and are pricing benchmarks for the rubber industry. TSR 20 rubber contracts traded over-the-counter are also cleared by SGX AsiaClear.

Mr Gan Seow Ann, president of SGX said, “We are pleased with the launch of these contracts on SGX which helps make the rubber market more accessible for our customers. The rubber futures add to other commodity derivatives which are already available on SGX, enabling our customers to efficiently hedge and manage their exposure to commodities on a single platform.”