Ecomex to offer online renewable resource trading

Web exclusive posted Sept. 3, 2008 at 4:14 p.m. CST

Oslo, Norway-based Ecomex, a marketplace for online, real time over-the-counter trading, has announced the formation of London-based Trayport Ltd.'s GlobalVision Exchange Trading System, allowing global trading of renewable energy products.

Trayport is an electronic trading and order matching software supplier for brokers, exchanges and traders. With GlobalVision, Ecomex will become the first worldwide exchange in renewable energy products to provide traders with an electronic trading platform.

"We are seeing increased demand for GlobalVision from those exchanges like Ecomex moving into the renewable energies marketplace," said Paul Constantinou, sales manager for Exchange Systems at Trayport. "Brokers and traders using Ecomex to trade these commodities will be able to reduce their administrative costs and gain the opportunity to increase the volume of trades. The opportunity to work with Ecomex is an exciting one in terms of renewable energy trading, and one that builds on our experience in the Nordic exchange markets."

Initially, the products will come from the producers of seeds, edible oils and biodiesel. "In the beginning, we are focusing on Europe," said Ecomex Chief Executive Officer Sophus Kielland. He added that byproducts of industrial and agricultural processes, such as forestry waste, may also be traded on Ecomex.

"We are an independent marketplace where the different counter parties can enter their orders," Kielland said. "As the first exchange to offer online trading in renewable resources, we decided to make the investment in GlobalVision to meet the demands of our trading clients who wish to trade in this area. It will allow us a great opportunity to connect with them and increase the market."

The Ecomex trading system allows an entity to trade physical energy commodities in various time periods, put in hidden volumes and make back to back trades in one click, Kielland said. "The marketplace has prequalified all the members to be either a producer or a user of energy commodities. This prequalification is done to insure that the parties have the capacities to carry out the trade." Kielland added that if a company has previous customers they do not want to trade with, Ecomex will add them to a "black list" and previous customers of a client won't see the offer on the Ecomex trading screen.

All the trades on Ecomex are based on standard specifications with the opportunity to enter other values for different qualifications. Trades are based on a Free On Board (FOB) contract. "And Ecomex will open for new loading places rapidly as new suppliers get active in the market place," said Kielland. "By getting the physical energy commodities traded through the market place it will give the opportunity to players to hedge their trades against variations in the market."