Japan Exchange Group (JPX) sent two teachers to explain rice spot and futures markets in the lecture “Industrial situation” to general students held by the Faculty of Economics in the University of Tokyo on July 10.

Regarding rice spot market, Mr. Shunsuke Orikasa, the president of Future Rice Market that opened in October 2023 lectured, and regarding rice futures market, Mr. Yoshiaki Watanabe, the president emeritus of Niigata Agro-Food University, who is the former administrative vice-minister of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and was the president of Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE) when it started rice futures transaction as trial listing in August 2011 lectured.

Furthermore, at the beginning of the lecture, Mr. Takashi Ishizaki, the president of Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)－a subsidiary of JPX, gave a message, and then, Mr. Orikasa and Mr. Watanabe spoke for forty-five minutes each.

In the Faculty of Economics of the University of Tokyo, the lecture “Industrial situation” in inviting experts in related industries as teachers has been held.

Topic of the lecture for 2024 is “Industrial situation―energy market and commodity market” the same as last year, and JPX has been supporting by sending teachers to the lecture to make it more practical regarding energy market－electric power, LNG, oil, emissions trading, etc.

As for the lecture, there are 13 lectures in the first semester, it has been trying to disseminate and raise awareness from academic perspective regarding functions and roles of commodity futures market, and JPX is supporting in a medium- and long-term perspective for increased interest in the commodity futures market from the perspective of developing future human resources.

So far, the commodity futures industry has been cooperating with endowed chairs of some universities as part of the awareness campaign, and the lecture to general students of the University of Tokyo by the the commodity futures industry is the first one.

Permanent listing of rice futures transaction on Dojima Exchange (ODEX) was approved in this June and ODEX is preparing for start in this August. Meanwhile, TOCOM doesn’t plan to list rice futures transaction at this point.

（Futures Tribune・issued July 12, 2024 ・no.3299）