Dubai Mercantile Exchange Records 35 Per Cent Increase In Trading Volume In 2010

The Dubai Mercantile Exchange Limited (DME) today released its annual review for 2010, reporting a 35 per cent year-on-year increase in trading volumes and record levels of open interest.

Average daily volumes (ADV) for the DME Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman) reached 2,898 contracts traded (equivalent to 2.9 million barrels of oil per day), with a high of more than 3,000 ADV during the fourth quarter. The DME also set a new record for physical delivery in September 2010, with 15.1 million barrels delivered through the exchange during the month.

The year’s record performance reflects strong continued progress for the DME and reinforces the DME Oman contract’s position as the most efficient price discovery and risk management tool for the East of Suez crude oil markets. Today, more than 50 companies trade regularly on the exchange while in excess of 140 million barrels of crude oil were delivered through the DME during 2010.

The DME’s role as a provider of risk management capabilities has been enhanced in 2010 through the launch of six DME Oman-linked swap and option contracts by NYMEX, part of the CME Group.

The introduction of these new products enables the DME to provide a mechanism for industry participants to manage price risk more effectively in the Middle East and Asia Pacific markets while also offering investment options to new participants looking for exposure to Middle Eastern crude oil bound for East of Suez markets.

Commenting on the year’s performance, Ahmad Sharaf, Chairman of the DME, said "During 2010 the DME maintained and consolidated its position as the most effective benchmark for crude oil in the Middle East and Asia. At a time when Asian oil markets continue to grow rapidly, overtaking consumption levels in Europe and North America, we are confident that both the importance of the DME Oman contract, and the role that it can play within the global market, will continue to grow still further." Thomas Leaver, Chief Executive of the DME, said "The progress that we continue to make is very encouraging and demonstrates the underlying strength of the contract. The fundamentals on which the exchange is built, together with the ongoing growth in demand for our products and the enduring strength of our target markets, give us confidence that we can continue to develop and build the DME further as we move into 2011."

 

Dubai Airport Freezone Contributes AED52 Billion To Total Trade Volume In Dubai

Dubai Airport Freezone recorded a significant contribution of AED52 billion to the total volume of Dubai trade in 2010. This represents 5.8% of the total volume, according to study released by the Dubai Airport Freezone.

The total exports from Dubai were AED355 billion, out of which Dubai Airport Freezone contributed AED21.652 billion constituting 6%. The overall imports into Dubai were AED547 billion, of which AED30.64 billion representing 5.6% was contributed by Dubai Airport Freezone.

The efficiency per square meter from imports at the Dubai Airport Freezone stands at AED30,644 while for exports, it is AED21,652.

Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, Director General, Dubai Airport Freezone, said: “The impressive contribution of Dubai Airport Freezone to the overall trade volume in Dubai is a testament to our commitment and effort towards supporting the local economy. We will continue to attract more international investments by enabling an environment for businesses in our cluster to thrive.”

Over the last 15 years Dubai Airport Freezone has attracted more than 1,450 companies – including big multinationals from a variety of sectors such as aviation industry, pharmaceutical products, telecommunications, electronic & electrical materials, cargo & freight.

The Freezone’s business result attracting 102 new companies in 2010 is a significant evidence of the momentum the Freezone creates in the local and regional economy.

“We are delighted by these results and our determination to contribute largely to the growth of Dubai economy is highly reinforced,” Dr. Zarooni added.

“The strategy of the Dubai government to stimulate economic activities through free zones is yielding positive results and helping to attract more foreign investments into the country. We are proud to be part of the developmental march and reaffirm our commitment to providing the best facilities for the wide variety of businesses we serve,” concluded Dr. Zarooni.

DGCX Indian Rupee Futures Daily Volume Surpasses 5,000 Contracts For The First Time

The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) announced that trading in Indian Rupee/Dollar futures crossed the 5,000 contracts mark on  Friday October 8th, 2010, reaching an all time daily high of 5,201 contracts, valued at US $ 234.08 million.

The new daily volume record surpassed the previous peak of 4,724  contracts, valued at US $212.16 million, set on October 7th, 2010. The daily high follows the DGCX Indian Rupee futures’ fourth straight monthly volume record of 69,917 contracts set in September 2010. Year-to-date volume for Indian Rupee futures reached 192,628 contracts at the end of September, a growth of 195% on last year.

"The outstanding run of DGCX Indian Rupee/Dollar futures YTD demonstrates the growing demand for trading the contract among our membership base. Apart from the fact that it provides an ideal financial tool to manage price risk in the Indian Rupee, the product’s performance has been driven by its improved liquidity, low cost trading and easy access to DGCX markets," said Eric Hasham, Chief Executive Officer, DGCX.
 

Dubai Customs Launches Mirsal 2 B2B Service For Companies With High Volume Business

Dubai Customs launched the Mirsal 2 B2B service for its eligible business partners who conduct high volume business with customs using Mirsal 2; the integrated system enabling them to submit declarations online from client’s system to Mirsal 2 with easy transactional processing and E-payment taking place directly between both parties.

This initiative comes as part of the continuous improvement of the electronic systems offered by Dubai Customs to its clients and in light of Dubai Customs trend towards electronic processing of all customs declarations.

The latest electronic business service (B2B) shall provide a number of benefits including but not limited to; reduction of human errors, automation of collaborative business process with Customs, fastest channel for declaration submission, physical presence for declaration submission is avoided thereby freeing clients from the hassle of frequent visits, creation of more time for the core business tasks, reduction of declaration cost, round the clock – 24 X 7 – availability, quick feedback on the status of the declaration, simple, painless and easy declaration process, thus in turn helping Customs to make best use of its human resources and assigning counters employees to do other tasks.

According to an agreement signed with Dubai Customs, Al Tayer Group was the first client to use the Mirsal 2 B2B service.

The agreement allows for components of Al Tayer Group IT infrastructure to be linked directly to Mirsal 2 in a way allowing entry of declarations and online interconnectivity with Customs while passing validation, duty payment and release phases through B2B.

Dubai Customs is now actively promoting the service to other clients wishing to enter their goods declarations and process them through the B2B service by providing the necessary technical support, helping them to fully understand its procedures and its importance in the current business scenario at Dubai Customs and to adopt it automatically so that the transformation takes place smoothly and effectively benefiting their business to the fullest.

Juma Al Ghaith, the Executive Director of Customs Development Division at Dubai Customs, said; "The B2B initiative is not meant to be shared with all stakeholders but only with those eligible business partners who do high volume business with Customs considering their demanding business requirements".

"Dubai Customs has two channels for submitting Customs declarations on Mirsal 2. One is through the Dubai Trade web portal and the other is B2B. The B2B service is primarily for eligible business partners", Al Ghaith pointed out.

"In B2B, Dubai Customs exposes a Web service that the B2B partner system calls while declaring. Similarly, we call the Web service exposed by the partner systems for the response", he added.

Al Ghaith praised Al Tayer Group as a major client of Dubai Customs with significant volumes of trade and said; "We are keen to offer all facilities supporting the national economy".

"Dubai Customs seeks continuously to provide services that strike the balance between trade facilitation and enforcement. The B2B service provides the facility directly to clients as they can programme compliance rules within their software. The B2B service advantage of entering less declarations would result in more accurate declarations and hence better compliance," he added.

Expressing Al Tayer Group satisfaction with using the new B2B channel originating from Dubai Customs, Khalid Al Tayer, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) said; "We are pleased to be the first partner to join this initiative which is meant to simplify procedures for clients who do high volume business with Dubai Customs. We congratulate Dubai Customs for their continuous efforts to adopt the best international technologies and simplify processes to assist businesses." This new initiative embodies the real Customs to Business partnership and underlines Dubai Customs keenness on providing best customer service delivery standards.

The declarant can submit the declaration on Mirsal 2 through Dubai Trade web access or B2B, upon successful submission, declarations are registered with Dubai Customs, declaration number and applicable charges are informed to the declarant as part of the successful submission message. All declarations will be risk assessed; accordingly, clearance or hold messages will be issued.

Believing and understanding the business partners’ security and seamless access are paramount; Dubai Customs ensures that the security is tight through the B2B channel by ensuring every aspect in this direction is well addressed such as Authentication, Authorization, Confidentiality, etc to enhance the partners’ confidence.

 

DGCX’s volume hits all-time monthly high in June

Total volume on Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) rose to an all-time high in June at 192,138 contracts, surpassing the previous peak achieved in November 2009, according to DGCX.

The strong activity was led by significant increases in volume across all product suites – precious metals, currencies and crude oil. Month-on-month volume rose by 24% for gold, 95% for Euro/Dollar, 40% for INR and 187% for WTI futures, DGCX said in a press release.

Setting yet another record, the volume of Indian Rupee/Dollar futures also scaled a new monthly high in June, at 12,159 contracts, demonstrating robust demand for the product.

Trading and participation on the Exchange has continued to expand since the start of 2010, borne out by a year-to-date June 2010 volumes of 934,403 contracts compared to 631,850 contracts over the same period in 2009, a growth of 48%.

The underlying value of total commodity and currency futures transactions in June was $10.846bn.

Commenting on the activity in June, Eric Hasham, Chief Executive Officer, DGCX, said, "June marked several milestones for DGCX. In addition to achieving the highest traded overall and Indian Rupee volumes, June also saw the launch of three new currency contracts." "The DGCX INR/Dollar futures contract is the only exchange-traded Rupee futures outside of India, and is witnessing new interest from businesses, arbitrageurs and investors," said Hasham. "This is spurred by the contract’s higher liquidity, competitive trading costs, guaranteed settlement and reduced counterparty risk."