Introduction
The MCX commodity contract expiry calendar 2026 determines the exact dates on which open positions must be settled or rolled over across gold, silver, crude oil, copper, zinc, lead, aluminium, and nickel contracts. Understanding these expiry mechanics is foundational for anyone managing delivery obligations, hedging import costs, or avoiding the price distortions that concentrate around final settlement days.
The Mechanism
MCX contract expiry follows a standardised settlement cycle anchored to the international benchmark exchanges — COMEX for gold and silver, NYMEX for crude oil, and LME for base metals. The transmission works in sequential steps.
First, MCX fixes its contract expiry date typically on the last business day of the delivery month, or a specific date defined in each contract's specification. As that date approaches, open interest either rolls to the next active contract or moves toward physical delivery.
Second, the Daily Settlement Price (DSP) on expiry is computed using a volume-weighted average of MCX trades in the final two hours of trading, adjusted for the rupee-dollar exchange rate at RBI's reference rate on that day.
Third, for compulsory delivery contracts — including gold (1 kg), silver (30 kg), and certain base metals — participants without approved vault accreditation face forced squaring. This is the mechanism that creates price convergence pressure in the spot-futures basis in the final 3–5 sessions before expiry.
The effective MCX price is calculated as:
MCX Price (INR/unit) = (International Benchmark Price in USD) × RBI Reference Rate + Import Duty + GST + Handling Charges
Any sharp movement in the dollar-rupee rate inside the last week of a contract amplifies or compresses the INR settlement value independently of global commodity moves.
India-Specific Context
India's commodity pricing carries several structural layers absent in global benchmarks. Gold and silver attract a basic customs duty currently at 15% plus an agriculture infrastructure development cess, making Indian prices structurally higher than COMEX equivalents. Crude oil import parity pricing incorporates freight, insurance, and ocean loss, diverging from NYMEX WTI even when denominated in the same currency.
MCX circuit limits — typically 4% to 6% for precious metals and 3% for crude — can halt price discovery during global flash moves, creating overnight gaps when markets reopen. SEBI's position limits on MCX restrict the size of open interest any single entity can carry into the expiry week, which mechanically reduces liquidity and widens bid-ask spreads. RBI's reference rate, published at 1:30 PM IST, is the official conversion rate for final settlement, meaning afternoon global moves on expiry day carry disproportionate weight.
Historical Episodes
In 2020, when NYMEX WTI crude briefly traded negative in April, MCX crude oil's May contract faced a structural problem — the exchange's software could not process sub-zero prices. MCX settled the contract administratively at a price above zero, diverging from global settlement by approximately ₹965 per barrel, triggering significant short-seller losses.
In 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, MCX gold rallied approximately 8–10% over three weeks as the rupee weakened simultaneously with global gold strength — a double-amplification that historically does not occur when dollar strength suppresses rupee-denominated gold moves in opposite directions.
In 2013, the sudden hike in gold import duty to 10% caused MCX gold to gap up approximately 3–4% in a single session despite COMEX remaining flat, illustrating how India-specific policy can decouple domestic prices entirely from the global mechanism.
What to Watch
Monitor these specific signals ahead of MCX expiry weeks in 2026: RBI MPC meeting dates (currently February, April, June, August, October, December) for rupee policy signals; EIA crude inventory releases every Wednesday at 8:00 PM IST; OPEC+ ministerial meeting calendars; LME three-month copper spreads for backwardation signals; MCX daily open interest data published on the exchange website; and IMD monsoon progress reports in June–September, which influence agri-adjacent sentiment and broader market liquidity conditions on the exchange.