Wedoany.com Report, On March 5, 2026, CME Group announced that Avere Commodities and Olam Agri, brokered by ICAP, completed the first block trades of 100 lots of South Asian Crude Palm Oil (Fastmarkets) futures contracts. These trades are based on four new South Asian edible oil futures products launched by CME Group on March 2, 2026, designed to provide price discovery and risk management tools for participants in the South Asian market.

John Ricci, Managing Director and Global Head of Agricultural Products at CME Group, said: "The early industry support for the South Asian edible oil futures contracts is encouraging. These contracts will help enhance price discovery in the South Asian market and support participants' investment and hedging strategies." Preston MacKenzie, Senior Vegetable Oil Trader at Avere Commodities, noted: "CME's exchange-cleared products are effective tools in our portfolio, helping to expand market participation." Rix Hufman, Senior Tropical Oils Trader at Olam Agri, added: "As a major shipper of vegetable oils to India, the new tools will optimize our hedging strategies."

James Mckay, Co-Head of Agricultural Products, Soft Commodities, and Biofuels for Asia Pacific at ICAP, stated: "We are proud to be the first firm to broker this new product, which is a significant step in developing innovative risk management solutions for our clients." Sudhakar Desai, President of the Indian Vegetable Oil Producers' Association (IVPA), said: "The launch of these South Asian edible oil futures contracts enables the Indian vegetable oil industry to achieve more effective risk management and has the potential to become a global benchmark."

The four newly launched cash-settled products are based on Fastmarkets' assessments for Soybean Oil CFR India and Crude Palm Oil CFR West Coast India. They include South Asian Soybean Oil (Fastmarkets) Futures, South Asian Crude Palm Oil (Fastmarkets) Futures, and two spread contracts: South Asian Soybean Oil (Fastmarkets) vs. CBOT Soybean Oil Futures and South Asian Crude Palm Oil (Fastmarkets) vs. USD Malaysian Crude Palm Oil Futures.

CME Group, as an international derivatives marketplace, helps clients worldwide manage risk through products such as futures and options. The company offers benchmark products across multiple asset classes and operates clearing services such as CME Clearing. Trademark information, including CME, Globex, etc., belongs to their respective owners.