American stock exchange NASDAQ is contemplating to establish a headquarter in Singapore as it aims to introduce China commodities and strengthen trading in Asia.

Several other foreign exchanges such as Deutsche Borse and Intercontinental Exchange have already established their presence in Asia, with their hub in Singapore, which is home to various prominent commodities trading houses such as Cargill, Klaveness and Louis Dreyfus.

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NASDAQ has already obtained a license in August this year from the country's regulating agencies authorizing it to have its presence in Singapore to promote Oslo-listed freight contracts. 

Earlier, Intercontinental Exchange set up a Singapore clearing house last year, while Deutsche Borse is looking to set up a derivative business in the country by 2017.

Hanne Johansson, Nasdaq's global head of commodity sales, said the introduction of new products will help meet the demand for Chinese market products. She added that NASDAQ is exploring the various ways to bring these two markets together.

Singapore Exchange is looking to boost its profile with the purchase of Baltic Exchange. The deal was carried out in August and was valued at $114 million. However, Baltic Exchange will retain its headquarter in London. The deal is likely to be completed by the end of November. A large portion of freight derivative contracts use Baltic Exchange's indices for their pricing.

It can be noted that this is not the first time that a foreign exchange attempted to capture the Asian commodities markets since several others already tried in the past. However, they reportedly failed because majority of the investors chose familiar products over the new ones launched by the exchanges.

With NASDAQ trying its luck on stock exchange in Singapore, the company is bent on working with Baltic to boost its liquidity in the market.

TagsNasdaq, Singapore Exchange, Cargill