The Tokyo Grain Exchange, which forecasts a net loss this year, is rejecting proposals to merge with other bourses and will boost product offerings to revive profit, according to Chairman Yoshiaki Watanabe.
"We can share trading systems, but we won't combine our organizations," Watanabe said in an interview Monday, referring to suggestions that the TGE merge with the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, known as Tocom. "A dedicated exchange for agricultural products is necessary," he said.
Trading volumes at Japan's four raw materials bourses fell 28 percent in 2008, as prices fell from records amid the global recession, after a 21 percent drop the previous year, according to industry data.