The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) said today that it would raise the exchange fees for Dubai Crude Oil contracts from 55 yen ($0.45) to 70 yen ($0.57) per contract, one way, because of higher costs related to maintaining the listing of the commodity. The increase will be effective as of January 4, 2016.
High Volatility
The move could be directly linked to the extreme volatility of the crude oil market internationally, now that prices are at historic lows, with investors extra sensitive to any news that could bring them even lower or, maybe, higher. The latest information that pushed crude oil prices further down was the weekly report of the US Energy Information Administration, revealing that crude oil inventories in the country had expanded for another week, pushing prices down closer to $40 a barrel. It was followed by robust job data that boosted the US dollar, automatically weighing on crude oil prices.
The new exchange fee for Dubai Crude Oil will be the highest for a commodity traded on TOCOM, the lowest being for its Gold Daily contracts, at 12 yen ($0.10). The Gold Mini and Platinum Mini contracts on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange carry an exchange fee of 20 yen ($0.16), Gold Options cost a fee of 19 yen ($0.15), and the Soybean contracts have a fee of 32 yen ($0.26) until February 2016. The rest of the commodities traded on the bourse have an exchange fee of 55 yen ($0.45).
