en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Bolsa Mercantil de Colombia (BMC) is shifting its business focus from the agricultural sector to multiple commodity markets, including energy, natural gas, public procurement, and non-bank financing. The exchange's president, María Inés Agudelo, revealed that BMC is about to launch its first standardized energy contract auctions, aiming to enhance market transparency and price stability.
Agudelo stated that Colombia has long discussed establishing a standardized energy market, and the plan developed by BMC has been approved by the Energy and Gas Regulatory Commission (Creg). The new mechanism will adopt a blind trading model, where buyers and sellers are unaware of each other's identities, similar to the operation of a stock exchange. This move aims to make the price formation process more transparent, provide long-term price signals to the market, and reduce reliance on short-term transactions that are susceptible to volatility. Agudelo emphasized that non-conventional renewable energy is crucial for Colombia to expand its power generation capacity, and BMC will also play a key role in the renewable energy auctions promoted by the Ministry of Mines.
In terms of business expansion, BMC has transformed from a single agricultural exchange into the country's only commodity exchange years ago. Its current business lines cover public procurement, natural gas market management, energy trading, and non-bank financing for small and medium-sized enterprises that struggle to access traditional financial services. Financially, BMC's revenue in the first five months of this year grew by approximately 15% year-on-year, and it is expected to reach nearly 150 billion pesos by the end of 2026, surpassing the 131 billion pesos recorded in 2025.
In the public procurement sector, BMC operates through a descending-price auction mechanism, where public entities can procure goods and services with uniform technical specifications, and multiple suppliers compete by offering more favorable prices. Agudelo noted that beyond the economic benefits, this mechanism has already saved over 40 billion pesos in the first quarter of this year and ensures transaction execution. In the natural gas market, BMC acts as a neutral manager of the Gas Market Manager (Gestor del Mercado de Gas) function, responsible for collecting, organizing, and publishing industry information without engaging in buying or selling. Current data indicates a risk of shortage in the future natural gas market, and BMC's role is to provide reliable and transparent information to all participants.
Regarding the current state of the agricultural sector, Agudelo stated that the sector remains active, and BMC's agricultural invoice registration system continues to be an important tool for improving producers' cash flow. Despite pressure from rising fertilizer costs, factors such as exchange rates have partially offset these impacts.
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