JFX to launch coal contract before the end of March

The Jakarta Futures Exchange (JFX) will launch a coal contract at the end of March this year as part of the exchange?s program to further increase the number of commodities available for investors, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Friday.

The director of the future exchange which is also known with its Indonesian name Bursa Berjangka Jakarta (BBJ), Bihar Sakti Wibowo, said in Jakarta on Thursday that the exchange would speed up the preparation process so that the coal contract could be launched before the end of March.

He said that the exchange?s research and development division was conducting a study on the contract system and its trading mechanism so that the coal contract could be effectively used for hedging. The coal contract will also help Indonesian coal producers as an export-price benchmark.

At present the JFX also trade future contracts for several commodities such as gold, cocoa and olein. (*)