Russia's NAMEX plans to launch project for unified exchange order book in Novorossiysk ports starting in 2026
MOSCOW. Nov 10 (Interfax) - The National Mercantile Exchange (NAMEX) plans to launch a project in the ports of Novorossiysk in January 2026 to create a unified digital space for determining the market price of grain, which will be called the "unified exchange order book" at the exchange.
"This is one of our key projects, and one might say, a pilot project. We call it the 'unified exchange order book' in the ports of Novorossiysk. Essentially, it is the creation of a unified digital space where the interests of the largest exporters and all agricultural producers willing to sell grain converge. Novorossiysk is Russia's main export gateway, with the three terminals located there accounting for over a third of all export shipments," NAMEX CEO Kirill Popov, who was appointed to this position in early November, told Interfax.
It involves an anonymous double auction, he said. "Within it, participants do not know each other, but see the market price forming in real time. This format makes trading as transparent and fair as possible - the price is formed objectively, without backroom agreements. This is the standard for many traded assets on world markets and the most optimal mechanism for determining the market price," Popov said.
The project requires integration with the Zerno federal state information system, which will make it possible to track the movement of grain batches and confirm the producer's status, he said. Integration with Digital Logistics, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, will also be required, because exchange-traded agricultural goods received priority in rail transportation in accordance with the instructions of the Russian president of September 14 this year. This will provide additional security for exchange transactions and speed up the process of their execution.
In addition, the exchange order book should become a source of a new market indicator - the CPT Novorossiysk price, which will be used to calculate a futures contract. "We are already working in this direction and preparing market maker programs. This is a step towards creating a full-fledged hedging market in the agricultural sector," he said.
Answering a question about the start date for the implementation of the project, Popov said that the exchange is targeting January 1, 2026.
The National Mercantile Exchange was established in 2002 to organize the commodity market and is an authorized exchange of Russia's Agriculture Ministry. The NAMEX currently organizes exchange trades in agricultural products, meat products and processed products at commodity auctions, and also conducts spot trades in sugar and other goods, calculates indices of the grain market, sugar, oilseeds and other goods, and registers over-the-counter contracts with goods. Purchase and commodity interventions on the grain market are conducted on the exchange platform.
