BM&F's Agricultural Markets Close The Month Of May With Increased Volume

The agricultural markets at BM&F closed the month of May 2006 with 90,707 traded contracts (futures, options, and ex-pit), representing a growth of 36% in comparison to the same period last year. The information can be found in the May issue of Agropecuário Mensal (only in Portuguese), released on June 5th by BM&F.

The highlight of the month was the soybean futures market, which registered a historic record of 10,652 traded contracts - triple the volume of May 2005. Open interest in soybean also hit a record, with 6,234 contracts.

Live cattle, sugar, and alcohol also grew during this period. The live cattle market traded 27,179 contracts, a 35% increase over May 2005; live cattle open interest also registered record volume: 17,459 contracts. The sugar market, which ended the month with 7,075 negotiated contracts, had a 25.9% increase in comparison to the same period last year. The alcohol market more than tripled its volume over May of last year, with 4,120 traded contracts.

BM&F’s agricultural markets, in total, closed the month of May with an open interest of 66,939, 51.9% higher then registered during the last day of May 2005.