NCDEX will launch guar korma futures from July 24, providing exporters, processors and cattle-feed manufacturers a regulated hedge for the commodity in which India makes up 80 per cent of the global production, according to an NCDEX statement.
New Futures Contract Details
The contracts in the futures will expire from September 2026 to January 2027, with further expiries in line with the exchange’s launch calendar. The contract will be ex-warehouse Jodhpur with a trading unit of 5 tonnes and compulsory delivery on expiry. The exchange will bring the same institutional rigour that it applies to guarseed and guar gum futures, the statement said.
| Contract Detail | Specification |
|---|---|
| Exchange | NCDEX |
| Launch Date | July 24, 2026 |
| Expiries | Sep 2026 – Jan 2027 (and onward) |
| Delivery Basis | Ex-warehouse Jodhpur |
| Trading Unit | 5 tonnes |
| Delivery | Compulsory on expiry |
Market Context and Pricing Factors
Guar korma has never had an organised, exchange-based platform for price discovery and risk until now, the statement said. Its price is determined by an unusually layered set of forces: domestic guar-processing economics (the split between guar gum, guar korma and guar churi yields), competing protein substitutes such as soymeal and cottonseed oil cake in domestic as well as international feed markets, and demand cycles in the dairy, poultry, fishery and piggery industries of importing nations.
Kedar Deshpande, NCDEX Chief Business Officer, said the price risk of guar korma, which plays a crucial role in the animal feed industry as a high-protein feed ingredient, has been entirely not managed. “For exporters shipping to Europe on extended timelines, the gap between contracting a price and delivering the cargo is where the real risk sits. A transparent futures market lets them close that gap. It also strengthens price transmission back to the farm gate, connecting guar growers in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana more directly to the value being created downstream in this export chain,” he said.
India's Dominance in Guar Korma Production
The country is a leading shipper of guar korma, a byproduct obtained from the germ part of guarseeds, to Europe’s dairy belt. Guar is commonly known as cluster beans. Guar korma is one of the three products obtained by milling guarseed alongside guar gum (28–30%) and guar churi (35–50%). Rich in protein (up to 55 per cent on roasting), guar korma is a natural, vegetarian, non-GMO protein source widely used in cattle, poultry, fishery and piggery feed. It is valued internationally as a cost-effective alternative to soymeal, cottonseed oil cake and mustard-based proteins.
Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, China and the United Kingdom together account for the bulk of India’s guar korma exports over the past five years, led overwhelmingly by demand from the European dairy industry.
Implications for Exporters and Processors
With regulated futures contracts, exporters can now lock in forward prices against confirmed shipments, processors can hedge inventory between guar-crushing and export cycles, and cattle-feed manufacturers gain a transparent, exchange-discovered reference price. The NCDEX statement said: “This will strengthen the competitiveness of India’s guar-based protein exports at a time when global buyers are actively seeking natural, non-GMO alternatives to soymeal.”
For commodity traders and procurement teams, this launch offers a new tool to manage price risk in a market where India holds an 80% production share. The transparent pricing mechanism will benefit everyone from Rajasthan guar growers to European dairy buyers, connecting the supply chain from farm to feed trough.
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