21/07/2012 (FINCAD News) - Geneva-based commodities broker SCB Group, which is also known as Starsupply, wants to open a Singapore branch in either the second or third quarter of 2013, which will initially have the purpose of broking commodity swaps contracts involving crude palm oil.

Asia Risk reports that the commodities broker has been investigating the potential expansion for three years and wants to utilize its dominance in the market for OTC agricultural derivatives in order to obtain a strong position in the region. An example of the strong market position of the commodities broker is its trading activity for OTC crude palm oil derivatives, which has surged from 20,000 tons per month in 2009 to 50,000 tons.

"Singapore is a hub for palm oil, rape seed oil and bean oil and we have an edge there as the major renewable energy broker globally, so that's something we can use to get into the region," Joachim Emanuelsson, chief operating officer of the commodities broker, told the media outlet.

Oliver Bettin, head of credit products group, Asia-Pacific at Deutsche Bank in Singapore, recently told Risk Magazine that implementing Basel III could make transacting OTC derivatives trades in various Asian nations too expensive and motivate market participants to make these transactions in other nations.