Singapore - Singapore is launching a mercantile exchange to facilitate the trading of commodity derivatives in the Asia time zone, a financial market conference was told on Wednesday.

The Singapore Mercantile Exchange (SMX) will offer trading in metals, base metals, energy, agricultural goods, currency pairs, carbon credits and commodity indices, said Ministry of Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang.

It will be the first in Asia to offer such a diversified range of products on a single platform, analysts said.

SMX is backed by India-based Financial Technologies.

Lim said the involvement of Financial Technologies, which operates seven exchanges, "underscores Singapore's position as a key commodities trading hub."

The SMX board will be chaired by industry veteran Ang Swee Tian, a former president of the Singapore Exchange.

Singapore ranks among the top international financial centres, said Jignesh Shah, chief executive officer of Financial Technologies. He praised the "open economy, robust regulatory framework under the Monetary Authority of Singapore" and geographical location.

Financial Technologies is behind India's Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), the world's fourth largest commodity exchange trading in gold, crude oil and silver contracts.

MCS has an average daily trading volume of more than 3 billion US dollars. (dpa)