The Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc. (TOCOM), Japan’s largest commodity futures exchange, announced today its decision to delist the Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index Futures contract (TOCOM NEXT). The Exchange plans to discontinue trading of TOCOM NEXT on September 28, 2012, the final settlement day of the September 2012 contract (currently the back contract month). No new contract months will be listed for TOCOM NEXT. The schedule for the delisting process will be determined upon approval by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry.
TOCOM will continue to calculate and publicize the Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index and Nikkei-TOCOM Sub Commodity Indexes to provide benchmarks for the evaluation of various financial instruments such as investment trusts and commodity funds.
Additionally, the Exchange will consider including agricultural commodities in the calculation of the Nikkei-TOCOM Commodity Index. The Exchange will begin to calculate and publish the Sub Commodity Indexes after obtaining regulatory approval for an agricultural market consisting of soybeans, azuki, corn and raw sugar, which is expected in February 2013.