Illustrate hedging by a stockist by using futures market?
To illustrate the concept of hedging, let us assume that, on 1st December, 2002, a stockist purchases, say, 10 tonnes of Castorseed in the physical market @ Rs. 1600/- p.q.. To hedge price-risk, he would simultaneously sell 10 contracts of one tonne each in the futures market at the prevailing price. Assuming the ruling price in May, 2003 contract is Rs.1750/- p.q., the stockist is able to lock in a spread/”badla” of Rs. 150/- p.q., i.e., about 9% for about 6 months. The stockist would, in the first instance, take the decision to purchase stock only if such a spread covers his cost of carry and a reasonable profit of margin. Assuming that the stockist sells his stock in the month of April when the spot price is Rs. 1500/- p.q.. The stockist would incur a loss of Rs. 100/- p.q. on his physical stocks. He would also make a loss of expenses incurred for carrying the stocks. However, since the spot and futures prices move in parity, futures price is also likely to decline, say, from Rs. 17
