What are the top Commodities Traded in India (2024)

Let us look at the top commodities in terms of volumes and value. Which are the best commodities to trade in India and the top commodities in India for trading in futures. We shall typically focus on MCX high-volume commodities since it is the most liquid exchange of the two. We also focus on the most active commodities in terms of volumes traded and value traded and we shall take 2021 as the base to compute our rankings. Here is a quick look at the ranking of top commodities for 2021.

We look at top commodities under the following 10 categories.

1. Top Commodities by Volumes – Agri Products
2. Top Commodities by Value – Agri Products
3. Top Commodities by Volumes – Base Metals
4. Top Commodities by Value – Base Metals
5. Top Commodities by Volumes – Bullion
6. Top Commodities by Value – Bullion
7. Top Commodities by Volumes – Energy
8. Top Commodities by Value – Energy
9. Top Commodities by Volumes – Indices
10. Top Commodities by Value – Indices

TOP COMMODITIES IN INDIA

We will use the tabular ranking of commodities by volumes and volumes and identify the top commodities for the year to date 2021.

In the table below we look at the most active Agro commodities by traded contracts on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Agro commodities by traded value on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Base Metal Contracts by traded contracts on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Base Metal Contracts by traded value on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Bullion Contracts by traded contracts on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Bullion Contracts by traded value on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Energy Contracts by traded contracts on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Energy Contracts by traded value on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Commodity Indices by traded contracts on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

In the table below we look at the most active Commodity Indices by traded value on the MCX for the year to date 2021. Here is the top commodities ranking of the category.

Commodities for Beginners

Commodity futures and options can be traded on Indian commodity bourses like MCX, NCDEX, NSE, and BSE. Normally, commodity trading is predominantly done by those with existing exposure to an underlying. However, speculation is also quite common in the commodity markets. For beginners, the most recommended approach is to stick to the most liquid contracts in bullion or energy that are liquid.

One more option that beginners have is to trade the two commodity indices of bullion and base metals. The advantage with indices is that beginners don’t have to take on too much risk of individual commodity price fluctuations.

How does the Commodity Market Work in India?

In the Indian context, the commodity spot market and the commodity futures market trade distinct from one another. For example, the commodity spot market is normally under the control of the state governments or in specific cases of the agricultural ministry. The commodity futures and options market is regulated by SEBI. Even in options, the more liquidity contracts are the options on commodity futures rather than on spot commodities.

In India, markets exist for actual physical delivery through warehouses as well as for speculative trading. However, speculative traders have to square off their positions ahead of the physical expiry deadline otherwise margins may go up sharply. Commodity contracts also go through cycles like in the equity . Commodity derivatives are settled by actual physical delivery and also on a cash basis.

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