Block trading will also be implemented in the chemicals futures products, with a minimum threshold of 10 contracts. Ten contracts is the equivalent of one barge, a common unit of trade in the cash market for these products.
The contract revisions come in response to market participants' requests and will be effective with the start of trading on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2001.
CME-CheMatch benzene and mixed xylenes futures are traded on CME's GLOBEX®2 electronic trading system, with six consecutive months listed for trading at all times.
Linked via the Internet, CheMatch.com's secure, neutral trading platform and the GLOBEX2 system provide seamless transitions between the two sites and offer chemical companies, traders and financial institutions the ability to trade both physical and derivative products. Members of the CheMatch.com Global Trading Networksm are able to enter trades on GLOBEX2 through the CheMatch.com platform at www.chematch.com. The products trade exclusively electronically on GLOBEX2 and clear with CME clearing firms through CME's CLEARING 21® clearing system.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX®2 around-the-clock electronic trading system. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $30.1 billion in collateral deposits.
