Chairman of TOCOM New Year Message
In 2017, TOCOM rolled-out numerous initiatives that improved market convenience and grew our market's breadth. In March, we launched the Platinum Rolling Spot contract, which trades without maturity and is similar to the Gold Rolling Spot contract. Retail investors in particular have found the Platinum Rolling Spot contract an appealing investment vehicle and it has quickly become one of the most actively traded contracts at TOCOM.
In efforts to broaden our market's investor base, we recruited new trade participants at home and abroad while bolstering marketing and sales support for our broker members. We strengthened efforts to promote our exchange in China, including acquiring new remote trade members and signing new MOUs. We also increased investor education programs by joining hands with our broker members and industry associations to host a series of seminars at "TOCOM Square" at the Exchange's headquarters.
In June, we launched TOCOM's "Real Trade Contest", Japan's first competition hosted by a publicly regulated exchange to judge actual trading activities in the marketplace. The results successfully demonstrated retail investors' potential in commodity trading, which attracted media attention.
In 2018, we will be implementing more projects to bolster the recovery in our markets and to further reinforce our role as Japan's industry infrastructure. We expect to launch electricity futures contracts in September. In addition, following the government's "Growth Strategy 2017", we are preparing a single marketplace for energy, with futures contracts including electricity, LNG, and coal. Electricity futures will be the first listed product for the new market to facilitate industry needs for hedging. TOCOM continues preparations for listing LNG and coal futures.
We also plan to list Technically Specified Rubber (TSR) futures contracts in the middle of the fiscal 2018 in response to changes in natural rubber supply and demand. This listing will increase the convenience of our rubber market for Japan's rubber industry, the world's largest rubber consumer, as well as China and producers in Thailand and Indonesia. The TOCOM's RSS contract has long been serving the interests of the rubber market with index prices and the Exchange expects to further enhance its presence with new TSR futures.
Last but not least, we hope you all have a wonderful year.
RISK DISCLAIMER: Trading in futures products entails significant risks of loss which must be understood prior to trading and may not be appropriate for all investors. Past performance of actual trades or strategies cited herein is not necessarily indicative of future performance. The information contained herein is provided to you for information only and believed to be drawn from reliable sources but cannot be guaranteed; Phillip Capital Inc. assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. The views and opinions expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Phillip Capital Inc. or its staff.