SINGAPORE, Sept 25: The Singapore Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade on Monday launched a derivatives market for Asian based commodities. The Joint Asian Derivatives Exchange (JADE) began trading with the TSR 20 Rubber Futures Contract, the new exchange said in a statement.

Commodities have increasingly become a key growth area for Asia, said Seck Wai Kwong, senior executive vice president and head of strategy and business development at the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

The formation of JADE was in response to demand from international customers for a more accessible and transparent platform to participate in Asias booming but fragmented commodity markets.

CBOT president and chief executive officer, Bernard Dan, said CBOT and the SGX share a common goal of launching an all-electronic, Asian-based commodity exchange that will create new trading opportunities for global market participants.

We believe JADE represents a new gateway to arbitrage opportunities in Asia and is a welcomed addition as a price risk management tool for commodities in the region, Dan said.

JADE said it aims to introduce its next contract, crude palm oil, by the end of 2006.—AFP