Japan Wants to Add Copper to the Tokyo Commodity Exchange

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange has developed something as a reputation as a lightweight over the years. A number of commodities have been excluded from the exchange in the name of making things "safer" for individual investors. However, that means that profits are slumping as the Tokyo Commodity Exchange struggles to gain wider appeal. 

In an effort to become more attractive, the exchange may add copper to its list. Additionally, the exchange president wants to list liquefied petroleum, lead and zinc. Bloomberg reports on the desire of the Tokyo Commodity Exchange to expand its offerings:

“I want to realize listing of these new products,” Tadashi Ezaki, the exchange president and chief executive officer, said in an interview yesterday without specifying a timeframe. “We don’t have a domestic futures market for copper although Japan is one of the world’s biggest users.”

The move could be profitable for the exchange, and it might broaden the appeal of an exchange that has fallen from grace. Once the second-largest commodities market behind the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Tokyo Commodity Exchange has since fallen out of favour. But adding copper and other valuable commodities may help spur interest in the bourse once more.