Kansas City Board Of Trade Starts Year With 26.3 Percent Gain Over December Volume

Trading volume at the Kansas City Board of Trade started out the year with healthy volume levels. The exchange traded 26.3 percent more during the month of January than in December 2004, while the wheat futures contract posted a 30 percent gain compared to the same time period.

Wheat futures trading volume nearly set a new record for the month of January, falling only 139 contracts shy of the record 222,465 contracts set in 2004. Thus, volume in this contract is the second largest in the history of the exchange for January. This figure takes into account only open outcry trading volume, not after-hours electronic trading.

Total exchange volume was the third largest for the month of January, behind last year’s tally of 250,075 contracts and barely missing 1996’s 230,553 contracts, by 199 contracts.

Open interest in the KCBT wheat futures contract climbed 17.1 percent compared to last January and 7.7 percent compared to the end of December 2004. Open interest also grew in the wheat options contract, by 9.8 percent in the past month.

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