In response to the booming market for plastics on the Persian Gulf, the Dubai Gold & Commodites Exchange (DGCX; www.dgcx.ae) plans to begin futures trading in the third quarter of 2007. Initially, the exchange will launch four contracts – for LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and PP – in cooperation with its parent company, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC; www.dmcc.ae). There will be three regional contracts for each grade. For northeast Asia, the trading centre will be South Korea, for southeast Asia Malaysia and Singapore. Middle East contracts will be traded in Dubai.

The Middle East has become the nerve centre of the global petrochemical industry, David Rutledge, CEO of DMCC and director of DGCX, said in a statement. He pointed out that the DGCX is not only the first exchange to offer specialised contracts for the Middle East but also the first to focus individually on the two regions of Asia. Neither the LME in London nor the NCDEX in Mumbai / India offers this. Since being announced in January 2007, the Dubai trading plans have met with encouraging response, said Rutledge.