Egypt’s Mercantile Exchange plans to offer some agricultural products, minerals soon

Egypt’s Mercantile Exchange (EMX) plans to start offering a number of agricultural and petroleum products, food commodities, and minerals in the coming period, its chairman said on Tuesday.

Speaking during a press conference in Cairo, Ibrahim Ashmawi said cotton, rice, beans, sesame, and beet are among the agricultural products to be added to the EMX’s trading platform. Meanwhile, the EMX also plans to start offering gold, silver, iron, and aluminum, he added.

The exchange, which began trading in November 2022, with wheat, sugar, and yellow corn among its list of traded commodities, is designed to operate as a spot market with prices determined by supply and demand, operating on a closed bidding system, where bidders submit offers in a sealed envelope and the country’s state grains buyer GASC selects the best one. Last year, it announced plans to add cotton and propylene.