Japan Exchange Group Inc., the country's main exchange operator, is considering expansion into commodities and foreign exchange as Asian economies continue to grow.
"We have the ambition to expand our product base from securities into the other types of products including commodities," Hiromi Yamaji, chief executive officer of Osaka Exchange Inc., a unit of Japan Exchange Group, said Tuesday.
Precious metals, rubber, oil, liquefied natural gas products and foreign exchange futures and options are possible, he said.
Japan Exchange Group would be joining Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. and Singapore Exchange Ltd. in expanding into commodities in Asia, where most of the world's copper, gold and energy is consumed. Imports of LNG in Japan climbed to a record last year after the Fukushima disaster curbed nuclear power demand.
"Especially in Asia, commodities trading is growing very rapidly," Yamaji said.
Japan Exchange Group was formed last year from the merger of the Osaka and Tokyo stock exchange operators.
Osaka Exchange will start trading JPX-Nikkei Index 400 futures by the end of November, Yamaji said.