KARACHI: Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited has launched a Deliverable Yellow Maize Futures Contract, creating a regulated platform for maize trading, price discovery and physical delivery.
The new contract allows farmers, traders, processors, feed manufacturers, commission agents, exporters and other market participants to trade yellow maize through standardised futures agreements linked to approved delivery centres and quality certification.
PMEX said the initiative is intended to bring greater transparency and efficiency to Pakistan’s maize market, which has traditionally depended on fragmented pricing information and informal trading channels.
Yellow maize is widely used across Pakistan’s poultry, livestock feed, starch and food-processing industries.
According to PMEX, the absence of a formal price-discovery system has exposed buyers and sellers to uncertainty, inconsistent quality standards and settlement risks.
The Deliverable Yellow Maize Futures Contract is designed to address those issues through transparent pricing, standardised quality requirements, regulated settlement and physical delivery.
Trading in the contract has already begun, with PMEX reporting early participation from market players interested in exchange-traded agricultural commodities.
As part of its market development programme, PMEX said it would organise roadshows in major maize-producing and trading areas.
The first outreach event will be held in Pakpattan, where farmers, traders and other participants will be briefed on the contract’s trading, delivery and risk-management features.
PMEX Chief Executive Officer Khurram Zafar said the launch was an important step towards developing a more modern agricultural market.
He said the contract would give participants a regulated mechanism for price discovery, risk management and physical delivery while strengthening confidence across the maize supply chain.
The contract is available through PMEX-licensed brokerage houses.
