Bloomberg/Dubai

The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange will focus on new products that are relevant to the Middle East and try to get regional banks and institutions more involved under new chief executive officer Gaurang Desai.
The DGCX should be ready to start trading a spot gold contract by the end of this year, Desai said in a phone interview last Thursday after his appointment was announced. The exchange is also working on new energy products, including making its existing WTI oil contract “more relevant for the region” and is considering a new fuel oil contract, he said.
“The main objective for us is to make sure we provide the products that this region needs,” Desai said. “We want to diversify in ways that make the DGCX a more broad-based exchange, and we’re looking forward to having financial institutions and banks from the region play a greater role.”
Desai, 42, has been serving as acting CEO since August last year and succeeds Gary Anderson, who died in November. The Mumbai-born Desai heads an exchange with about 50 people, and is looking to expand it gradually, he said. The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials has dropped 15% this year to the lowest in 13 years, with Brent oil price down 19%. CME Group Inc, the world’s largest futures exchange, dismissed about 80 workers this month.
“If you look at what’s happening in the industry, the focus is on productivity and efficiency,” Desai said.
The DGCX has been speaking with local refiners, banks and bullion traders about the details to prepare the market for the spot gold contract, he said. “We are trying to build a community before we launch the product, so everybody is on the same page,” he said. “I don’t see any reason for us not to be leaders in the gold industry in the Middle East.”
Gold, energy, foreign exchange and equities will remain core to DGCX’s offerings, he said.
Desai is one of the founding members of the team that set up the DGCX in 2005, after he moved to Dubai from India, the world’s second-largest gold market after China. He was a founding member of India’s National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, the country’s second-biggest exchange and largest for agriculture commodities.