The event commenced with a team from NCDEX conducting a workshop on commodities and derivatives trading. The workshop educated the participants regarding the commodity markets in India, their evolution, product conceptualization, design and contract specifications, risk and settlement process. It was supported by a demo of an NCDEX trading terminal to view live action on the quotes placed by the market players. Students from various premier B-Schools like IIFT, IIT-Delhi, IMT, IMI, MFC, ICFAI, MBE, etc attended the workshop.

Prof. C.D. Bhattacharya, Dean (FMS), delivered the keynote address of the workshop. In his inaugural speech, he emphasized on the increasing importance of commodity markets in India.

The first session was on Introduction & Trading on NCDEX Platform. Mrs. Uma Mohan, Head of Consumer Services at NCDEX, in this session briefly discussed the fundamentals of the derivatives and commodities. She also comprehensively explained the different strategies of hedging, arbitrage and speculation. The next speaker on stage Mr. Somesh Vaidya (Customer Services Group – Training), followed it up by giving an introduction on commodity trading, a comparison of commodity and financial derivatives and a brief overview of the market in general. He also explained the different trading terminologies with the help of a live demonstration of trading in the Commodity Market.

The second session was on Margin Requirements, Clearing & Settlement. Mr. Vaidya briefed upon the classification of risk and the various risk mitigation strategies. He also enlightened the audience about the different types of settlements and their methodologies.

The third session on Pricing Commodity Derivatives was on the second day of the workshop. The second day’s proceedings started with Mrs. Uma Mohan and Ms. Swati Parashar, discussing the various types of clearing and settlement processes and how commodity futures are priced. They engaged the audience in a discussion on the process flow for product launch at NCDEX and the finer points of alternative perspectives of pricing.

The workshop was also interspersed with a couple of tests – on basics & on margins, clearing and settlement. The idea behind the tests was to assess the knowledge of students developed during the course of the workshop.

Spread over two days and divided into three sessions, the workshop covered various aspects of the commodity markets to generate an in depth understanding of its functioning and live trading on the NCDEX platform. All participants were issued certificates duly authorised by NCDEX.

Prof. Jay.K.Mitra, the Programme Director concluded the workshop by thanking the faculty members for taking time out from their busy schedules and conducting this workshop, which would help the participants in understanding the dynamics of this emerging market.

“It was indeed a great experience to be a part of the workshop on commodities at FMS. Undoubtedly, we were overwhelmed by the participation of students on both the days. The profound interest and understanding of the participants on the fundamentals and concepts of commodity trading was truly commendable.” – This is what Mr. Somesh Vaidya had to say about his experience of the workshop.

Ankit Goenka, Co-ordinator of the finance society at FMS MBA (Management of Services) delivered the Vote of Thanks. He said – “Commodity trading helps us in making a successful convergence of the primary sector and the service sectors of the economy. The workshop was very enriching in terms of theoretical and practical exposure and I am sure the participants would benefit to a great extent.”