The Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWR) Market, launched by the Turkish Mercantile Exchange (TMEX) on July 26, 2019, is marking its seventh anniversary. During this period, 63.4 million tonnes of agricultural products, with a total transaction value of TRY 458 billion (USD 18.83 billion), were traded on the Exchange. Since TMEX commenced operations, the total storage capacity of the licensed warehousing system has nearly quadrupled, increasing from approximately 4 million tonnes to 15.1 million tonnes.

In its seventh year, TMEX has significantly increased the trading volume and market depth of agricultural commodities while continuing to contribute to the development of Türkiye’s agricultural markets through initiatives that promote the sector’s digital transformation, strengthen market transparency, and enhance risk management.

LICENSED WAREHOUSING: EVOLVING AS THE GUARANTEE OF FOOD SUPPLY SECURITY

Agricultural products underlying EWRs traded on TMEX are stored under secure and healthy conditions in modern licensed warehouses authorized by the Ministry of Trade. The number of licensed warehouses operating at 380 locations across Türkiye has reached 287. With the total storage capacity increasing to 15.1 million tonnes, the system is now capable of storing approximately 41% of Türkiye’s grain production.

To strengthen the supervision and inspection capacity of the licensed warehousing system, Licensed Warehousing Inspection Inc. established in January 2026 as a joint initiative of TOBB and TMEX. In addition, the Licensed Warehousing Information System (LİDBİS) Project, currently being developed by the TMEX R&D Center and expected to become operational in early 2027, aims to enable more effective and comprehensive monitoring and analysis of the consistency between physical agricultural products stored in licensed warehouses and their corresponding electronic records.

AWARD-WINNING PROJECT IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

TMEX was honored with an award at the IDC DX 2026 Digital Transformation Summit, organized by the International Data Corporation (IDC), for its project titled “From Data to Trust: Market Integrity via AI at the Turkish Mercantile Exchange.” The project received the award in the “Voices of AI Innovation” category, which recognizes initiatives that generate corporate value through artificial intelligence technologies.

This achievement underscores TMEX’s technology and R&D-driven approach to strengthening market integrity, ensuring the effective monitoring of market activities, and enabling the early detection of potential risks.

TMEX EXPANDS WITH NEW MARKETS

TMEX continues to pursue its vision of becoming a financial hub where agricultural commodity-based financial instruments are developed and diversified. In line with this vision, efforts are underway to launch the Futures Market, the International Commodity Market, and the Tawarruq Market.

• TMEX Futures Market for Effective Risk Management

The TMEX Futures Market, which is targeted to become operational in the last quarter of 2026, aims to enable producers, traders, industrial users, and investors to manage market risks in agricultural commodities more effectively. The market is also expected to provide financial investors with portfolio diversification opportunities while supporting more predictable price formation in agricultural markets.

In the initial phase, Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWRs) for bread wheat and corn, together with the corresponding TMEX price indices, are planned to be used as underlying assets. Future contracts based on EWRs are expected to be physically settled, while contracts based on TMEX price indices will be cash-settled at expiration. Clearing, risk management, collateral management, and default management services for the market will be provided by Takasbank.

Through the Futures Market, TMEX aims to establish effective integration between the spot and derivatives markets, thereby enhancing price discovery, strengthening risk management, and increasing market depth.

• Transparent Trading of Bonded Warehouse-Stored Agricultural Products Through the TMEX International Commodity Market

The TMEX International Commodity Market aims to enable the secure, transparent, traceable, and well-documented trading of agricultural products stored in customs-bonded warehouses authorized by the Ministry of Trade.

Products traded on the market are planned to be identified based on their origin, warehouse location, quality, and analysis information. Trading will be conducted in accordance within the framework of the directives and procedures issued by TMEX, which set out trading rules, delivery periods, and payment and clearing mechanisms.

The establishment of this new market is expected to support Türkiye’s ambition to become a regional hub for international agricultural commodity trade by leveraging its strategic position at the crossroads of global trade. It will also promote a more institutionalized framework for the physical trading of agricultural products stored in customs-bonded warehouses. The market is targeted to become operational in the third quarter of 2026.

• TMEX Tawarruq Market for Short-Term Funding in Participation Finance

Following the completion of the necessary regulatory framework, the TMEX Tawarruq Market is planned to be launched to facilitate commodity trading through Electronic Warehouse Receipts (EWRs) for short-term funding in accordance with the principles of participation finance.

Having completed its seventh year since its launch, TMEX continues to strengthen the existing infrastructure of the EWR Market while advancing new markets and instruments, thereby contributing to the development of a more transparent, deeper, more predictable, and internationally integrated agricultural commodity market in Türkiye.