NCDEX to roll out Guar Korma futures from July 24
The exchange will introduce contracts with expiries from September 2026 to January 2027, with subsequent contracts to be launched as per its contract calendar. The futures contract will be based ex-warehouse Jodhpur, have a trading and delivery unit of 5 metric tonnes, and will be compulsorily deliverable on expiry.
The move completes the exchange-traded ecosystem for India’s guar value chain, which already has futures contracts for guar seed and guar gum, while Guar Korma—the high-protein by-product of guar gum extraction—remained outside the ambit of regulated price risk management.
“India is the world’s largest producer and exporter of guar and guar-derived products, but Guar Korma has remained without an organised mechanism for price discovery and risk management,” said Kedar Deshpande, Chief Business Officer, NCDEX.
“With Guar Korma futures, we are extending a Sebi-regulated price discovery platform to an export-critical commodity, enabling processors and exporters to protect their margins. For exporters shipping to Europe on long delivery timelines, futures contracts provide an effective tool to hedge the price risk between signing export contracts and executing deliveries,” he added.
India processes nearly 80% of the world’s guar seed and guar derivatives and is the largest exporter of Guar Korma, which is widely used as a high-protein ingredient in cattle, poultry, fishery and piggery feed. The product competes with soymeal, cottonseed oil cake and mustard-based protein meals in global feed markets.
Guar Korma prices are influenced by multiple factors, including guar processing economics, fluctuations in competing protein feed ingredients and changing demand from overseas livestock industries. The absence of a benchmark futures market has often exposed exporters and processors to significant price volatility.The new contract is expected to help exporters lock in prices against confirmed overseas orders, processors hedge inventory during crushing and export cycles, and domestic feed manufacturers access a transparent reference price discovered through exchange trading.
The launch also comes at a time when international buyers, particularly in Europe, are increasingly seeking natural, non-GMO protein alternatives to soymeal.
Guar Korma is one of the three products obtained during guar seed processing, alongside guar gum and guar churi. Containing protein levels of up to 55% after roasting, it has emerged as a cost-effective feed ingredient in international markets. Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, China and the United Kingdom have been among the largest importers of India’s Guar Korma over the past five years, with demand driven largely by the European dairy industry.
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