Vietnamese oil rigs on the waters off Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The volume of transactions with the world at Mercantile Exchange of Việt Nam (MXV) in the first quarter this year rose by 9 per cent over the same period last year.

Notably, WTI crude oil was still the most traded product in Việt Nam in the first three months of the year, accounting for 17.4 per cent of the total trading volume at MXV. Ranking second is WTI micro crude oil, accounting for 12.4 per cent.

This item was suitable for both short-term scalping investors and investors who tend to hold positions in the medium and long term, said MXV.

However, soybean products, which are connected to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, grew to rank third with a proportion of 11.9 per cent in the market recently.

In March alone, soybeans are the most traded commodity at MXV. Other related products such as soybean meal and soybean oil also recorded impressive transaction growth in the early part of this year.

Việt Nam currently is the third largest soybean meal importer and the ninth largest soybean importer in the world.

Experts predict that Việt Nam's soybean imports will grow steadily by 3-5 per cent each year. Therefore, the demand for price insurance of businesses and investment demand for this product is expected to continue to increase in the near future.

Data from MXV shows that Gia Cát Lợi Commodity Trading JSC continued to maintain the number 1 position in commodity trading brokerage market share in Việt Nam in the first quarter, accounting for 25.8 per cent of the entire market.

At second place, HCM City Commodity Trading JSC (HCT) is occupying 20 per cent of the brokerage market share.

Hữu Nghị International Investment Co Ltd (Finvest) ranked third with 15.3 per cent market share, followed by Hitech Finance JSC and Saigon Futures Inc.

With the forecast that the market would continue to grow strongly in the rest of the year, the race for the top five will be very exciting in the near future, said Nguyễn Ngọc Quỳnh, deputy general director of MXV.

Even members with long-term operations and large scale could still be upsurped by new members who operated methodically, effectively and stayed ahead of market trends, he said. — VNS