This was a 3.7% increase over the previous record of 18.4 million contracts, including crude palm oil futures (FCPO), traded in 2021, according to a statement issued to the media today.

Trade on FCPO rose 3.8% from 15.6 million contracts in 2021 to 16.2 million in 2022.

The statement said that foreign institutions accounted for half of the trading volume. “Their participation rose by 27% compared with 2021. This strong growth demonstrates confidence from the global trading community in the FCPO as an effective risk management tool in times of volatility,” BMD added.

BMD also reiterated its commitment to develop and enhance its offerings to meet the demand of investors and hedgers to ensure continued rise in trading volume.

As part of its strategy to promote growth, the BMD launched the revamped Gold Futures (FGLD) contract in September and the first environmental, social and governance (ESG) based futures contract in December last year.

The ESG-based futures contract is a cash settled FTSE4Good Bursa Malaysia Index Futures (F4GM) contract.

BMD said its after-hours (T+1) trading sessions saw 1.49 million contracts traded in 2022. This accounted for 8% of the total trading volume for the year.

The highest T+1 daily trading volume was 19,065 contracts recorded on Dec 1.

BDM acting director Mohd Saleem Kader Bakas said efforts to improve the Malaysian derivatives market ecosystem would continue as the exchange works to strengthen its offerings with innovative products to create more opportunities for investors to diversify and hedge their portfolio,” he added.