ISLAMABAD: While futures trading in precious metals continues at the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), the first trading in agricultural products is expected to start in the coming months.

PMEX Chief Executive Khurrum Zafar on Monday said that all necessary formalities related to the trading of rice, maize and sugar have been completed.

“The trading of rice is scheduled for the coming months, and the sugar will be at the counter from next quarter,” he added.

He was addressing the gathering of all relevant stakeholders and invited the banks and traders from Islamabad and the surrounding region to invest in commodities on the regulated, modern platform.

He added that the 125-year-old ‘mandi’ based system should be converted to a modernised setup operating in a digital ecosystem.

“We need to create an impact on the lives of the farmers, who suffer from the price distortion cycles,” the CEO said.

The PMEX has already negotiated terms with dealers and sugar mills for futures trading in sugar at the Mercantile Exchange, while the two raw agricultural products, maize and rice, will be launched on the PMEX platform soon.

PMEX is Pakistan’s only SECP-licensed and regulated commodity futures exchange, and any app, group, or individual offering trading outside this framework is unregulated, while trading only through PMEX-licensed brokers was the legitimate option.

Speaking at the occasion, Zahid Latif, director of PMEX, said that price discovery and hedging would help all concerned in the supply chain, from farmers to consumers. He, however, stressed that Pakistan needed accredited warehousing so that traders at remote locations can trust the quality of the produce without physical inspection.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2026