Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange

Updated on Jan 05, 2024

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Type Commodities exchange Headquarters Minsk		Website www.butb.by Founded 2004

Native name Белорусская универсальная товарная биржа (БУТБ)

Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) (full name – Open Joint-Stock Company Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange) is the only commodity exchange in the Republic of Belarus and one of the largest in Eastern Europe. The BUCE is an open joint-stock company with the controlling stake (98%) owned by the government.

Founded in 2004, the BUCE now has over 17 thousand registered members from 58 countries, including 3.5 thousand foreign companies. The BUCE head office is located in Minsk with branches in all 5 of the country's regional centers – Brest, Gomel, Grodno, Mogilev and Vitebsk. The BUCE also has an office in Russia and representatives in Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Turkey, Sweden, and South African Republic.

History

The Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) was created under the initiative of the country’s President Alexander Lukashenko by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 1719 of 30 December 2003. The BUCE was incorporated on May 25, 2004. The first trading session to sell timber took place on June 2, 2005, whereas the trade in metal products began on June 29, 2005. In Q4 2005 the commodity exchange started preparing for selling agricultural products and launched the actual sales in January 2006.
In May 2009, an online trading platform for industrial and consumer goods was launched. It enabled buy-and-sell transactions to be executed 24/7 via Internet.

In December 2010, the BUCE was authorized to hold electronic auctions under government procurement contracts. In November 2012, the BUCE started trading derivatives.

Administration

The BUCE is operating under direct supervision of the Board of Directors chaired by Arkady Salikov. In between general meetings of shareholders the BUCE is managed by the Supervisory Board with the Belarusian Trade Minister at the helm. He is the government’s representative in the commodity exchange. Following the relevant resolution of the Council of Ministers, a Coordinating Council for Exchange Trade led by Vice Premier of Belarus Vladimir Semashko was set up. The Council consists of the heads of Belarus’ key ministries.

Objectives and functions

The BUCE's objectives:

improving the mechanism of government regulation in domestic and foreign trade;

developing a formal wholesale market;

providing equal access to the market;

offering additional economic incentives to market agents;

assisting the development of an organized commodity market;

increasing the efficiency of the Belarusian export;

simplifying the search for sellers and buyers;

creating a trading mechanism that allows for transparent execution of transactions on the commodity exchange.

The BUCE's functions:

creating conditions for carrying out exchange auctions;

conducting exchange auctions;

registering transactions at the exchange;

arranging quality inspection of the exchange goods;

identifying the supply and demand for various goods.

Key business areas

Electronic trade in metals and articles thereof;

Electronic trade in timber and articles thereof;

Electronic trade in agricultural products;

Electronic trade in industrial and consumer products;

Electronic auctions under procurement contracts;

Trade in futures;

Trade logistics;

Arbitration;

Publishing.

Structure and product range

The BUCE consists of five sections:

Metals and articles thereof;

Timber and articles thereof;

Agricultural products;

Industrial and consumer products;

Futures market.

These sections conduct trading sessions to sell a wide range of commodity items. The major ones are ferrous and non-ferrous metals and articles made thereof, scrap metal and metal byproducts, coal, coke, cables and wires (metal products section), standing timber, round timber, timber, plywood and flake boards, paper and pasteboard (timber products section), hard cheese, milk powder, casein, butter, rapeseed oil, sunflower and soy oil cakes, rawhides (agricultural products section), industrial machinery, electronics, etc. (industrial and consumer products section).
Every day the BUCE hosts 5-7 trading sessions.

Futures market

The BUCE's futures market section is at an early stage of development. At the moment, three futures contracts are available for trading - a futures contract for hot rolled steel coils, a futures contract for steel bars and a futures contract for petroleum products price index (calculated by Saint-Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange). Trade statistics are regularly published on the BUCE website

International relations

The BUCE is a member of several international organizations. In 2008 it joined the International Association of Exchanges of the CIS (IAE CIS), and in 2011 it acceded to the Association of Futures Markets (AFM). The BUCE also maintains partner relations with Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange, Moscow Stock Exchange, Uzbek Commodity Exchange, Kiev Agronomic Industry Exchange, the Russian Union of Metal and Steel Suppliers, etc.

References

Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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