Kansas City Board Of Trade: February Volume And Open Interest. Year-To-Date Volume Ahead Of 2002

The Kansas City Board of Trade volume traded thus far in 2003 is running ahead of volume at this time last year by 2.7 percent or 11,364 contracts. The increase in trading volume is attributed to uncertainty about the size of this year's U.S. hard red winter wheat crop due to concerns about moisture in key growing areas.

Wheat options volume is leading in the gains, posting an increase of 17.5 percent compared to year-to-date volume through February of 2002. February trading volume exceeded volume traded last February by 6.3 percent.

Wheat futures trading in the past month exceeded volume traded during January 2003 by 3.2 percent with year-to-date volume ahead of last year by 1.1 percent.

The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat.