KARACHI: Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited (PMEX), the country’s only licensed commodity futures exchange, concluded fiscal year 2025-26 with strong growth across all major performance indicators.
During the financial year, PMEX recorded its highest-ever total traded value of Rs11.3 trillion, up 22 per cent year-on-year (YoY), while trading activity surged by 87 per cent to 17.2 million lots. Investor participation also strengthened, with new accounts increasing by 58 per cent YoY. The exchange also achieved its highest-ever single-day traded value of Rs177 billion.
Commenting on the exchange’s performance, MD and CEO of PMEX Khurram Zafar said the strong performance reflected growing confidence in Pakistan’s regulated commodity futures market and the continued trust of investors, brokers and stakeholders. He added that as PMEX expanded agricultural futures and broadened investor participation, it remained committed to developing transparent, efficient and inclusive commodity markets that contribute to economic growth.
During the year, PMEX advanced the development of Pakistan’s agricultural commodity ecosystem by expanding its suite of domestic deliverable wheat, rice, maize and sugar futures contracts. Through awareness campaigns, roadshows and broker engagement initiatives, the exchange expanded participation among farmers, traders, processors, exporters and agribusinesses. Within weeks of launching its deliverable agricultural contracts, PMEX recorded trading of over 650 metric tonnes of local agricultural commodities, demonstrating encouraging market acceptance and growing interest in regulated agricultural futures.
The exchange also expanded retail investor access through the PMEX Sahulat Accounts and continued investor education and broker capacity-building programmes to promote informed participation in regulated commodity markets.
PMEX said it will continue expanding its product portfolio, leveraging technology, strengthening the domestic agricultural commodity ecosystem and deepening Pakistan’s regulated commodity futures market to drive broader participation and support sustainable economic growth.
