Ethiopian Commodity Exchange has opened a special marketing window for agro-processing industries. On Thursday, Melaku Alebel, Minister of Trade and Industry, officially inaugurated the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) for special services window for agricultural processors.
In this special transaction window, 16 processors registered with the Ministry of Trade and Industry has entered the trading system.
The special window service has been launched in soybean production and the industries have been trained in the legal system and the use of technology so that they can buy the goods through an electronic trading platform.
“From the 4th of November until the 26th of November, 2020, when ECX started trading in the special trading window out of the 141,857 quintals of soybeans supplied to agricultural processors, we traded 26,455 quintals,” ECX stated.
It is expected that more industries will join the special marketing window soon.
ECX has also officially launched the marketing of ginger beans and white pigeons that have joined the trading system.
“The marketing of the products through the commodity market will enable the produce to get a better price, increase the bargaining power of the farmers by obtaining sufficient market information and bring quality products into the market,” emphasized ECX.
The various ecosystems of our country are suitable for these products since every year more than 435,000 quintals of ginger beans or pentobarbital and more than 120,000 quintals of white pigeon are produced.
With the addition of bean sprouts and white pigeons, the number of commodities on the market increases to 12 items.
In particular, the spickled bean sprouts include red, white, gray, cream, red, white, red, and creamy, yellow, and black beans
“Although the product is now being delivered to our branches, we will officially launch the transaction today. Similarly, from October 14 to November 25, 2020, we received 7,370 quintals of sorghum from suppliers and have traded 4,967 quintals to date,” ECX stated.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is constantly evolving to meet its national responsibilities and develop new practices to serve its customers. “This year, we will be launching two new warehouses in Bule Hora and Metu, as well as electronic shopping malls in Gondar, Adama and Jimma. We will also open two more branches in Mizan-Tape. In new and emerging e-commerce centers, we are making extensive use of the system to enable farmers and suppliers to sell their products directly without being a member of the Commodity Exchange,” ECX elaborated.
ECX plans to trade 784 thousand tons of produce this fiscal year and 142 thousand tons of produce was sold for 9.5 billion birr in the four months from July 2020 to October 2020.
“Since the current season is the harvest season, we expect a high level of productivity according to our plan,” the exchange body said.
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is also aggressively working to fill the gap on the oilseed trade disrupted by the conflict break out in the Tigray regional state.
The conflict break out in the northern part of the country where oil seeds are highly produced has disrupted farmers and producers to supply their products which have also been plagued by Desert locust invasions and ill-timed rains that have occurred in the country during and after the main harvest collection period.
“Even if it is a peak season for trading oil seeds, the instability has not affected the trading that much,” stated the CEO of ECX, Wondimagegnehu Negera, “ We are working aggressively to supply the products from producers in other parts of the country to fill the trade gap,” he added.
Ethiopia’s oilseed sector plays an important role in generating foreign exchange earnings. The three major oilseed crops (sesame, soybean, and Niger seed) contribute to nearly 20 percent of Ethiopia’s total agricultural export earnings, second only to coffee.
“As per our information more than 90 percent of products from Tigray region including Dansha, Humera and Shiraro have been harvested, the rest will be done as soon as the connection is on,” Wondimagegnehu said as he explained that ECX is working to facilitate optional branches to farmers in the area.