Commodity trade: From Ancient Clay Tablets to Modern Electronic Platforms

The commodity trading has witnessed transformative shifts over the centuries. Ancient Mesopotamian clay tablet contracts established the foundation for commodity derivatives. Historical developments, from Japan's Dojima Rice Exchange to Chicago's CBOT, shaped commodity markets. In modern India, trading occurs on electronic platforms of recognized exchanges, namely MCX, NCDEX, NSE and BSE. The Emergence of nation-wide electronic trading facilities offered by national-level exchanges and certain regulatory requirements led to the closure of smaller or commodity specific exchanges. Over a period, the market regulator, (earlier Forward Market Commission and now SEBI) introduced several measures from time to time to deepen and broaden the market.