For the first time in the last five years, the turnover of the commodity exchanges fell by six per cent to Rs 170.46 lakh crore in the 2012-13 fiscal due to sluggish participation in gold and silver futures, according to the commodity markets regulator FMC.
During the 2011-12 fiscal, the combined turnover of 20 commodity bourses had grown by more than 50 per cent to Rs 181.26 lakh crore, it said.
The maximum fall was seen in bullion futures, while agriculture commodities witnessed a marginal drop during the 2012-13 financial year, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) said in a statement.
According to FMC data, the cumulative business at the commodity bourses has taken a hit for the first time in the last five years. The turnover has been growing each year since 2007.
During 2010-11 and 2011-12 fiscal, business had grown by more than 50 per cent.
The major drop in bullion futures was because of high price volatility that prompted investors to stay away from the markets, experts said.
According to FMC, the turnover from bullion futures trade fell by 23 per cent to Rs 78.62 lakh crore in the 2012-13 fiscal from Rs 101.81 lakh crore in the year ago period.
Similarly, turnover from agricultural items fell marginally by two per cent to Rs 21.55 lakh crore from Rs 21.96 lakh crore in the review period.
However, the business from energy futures such as crude grew by over 32 per cent to Rs 37.68 lakh crore in the 2012-13 financial year, as against Rs 28.51 lakh crore in the previous year, while the turnover from metals such as copper increased by almost 13 per cent to Rs 32.60 lakh crore from Rs 28.61 lakh crore in the review period.
At present, there are 20 commodity bourses offering futures trade, of which five operate at the national level.