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The Kansas City Board of Trade set a new single-day volume record for the exchange as a whole and for electronic trading on Wednesday. The KCBT also put in new contract highs across the board, with prices at an 11-year high as the KCBT March 2008 contract traded up to $6.20 a bushel.
Total exchange volume tallied 43,103 contracts, exceeding the previous single-day volume record of 41,248 contracts set on Oct. 5, 2006 by 4.5 percent. Electronic trading volume of 11,968 contracts set a new single-day record, topping the previous record of 9,876 that was set just the day before.
Total wheat futures trading volume amounted to 39,383 contracts, a mere 328 contracts shy of the previous daily volume record for that contract, which was set on Aug. 2, 2006. Each KCBT contract represents 5,000 bushels.
For the third day in a row, new contract highs were set in all contracts. The March 2008 contract traded up to $6.20, which is the highest the market has been since May 28, 1996. The nearby July contract traded up to $5.89, Sep 2007 traded to $6.03 and Dec 2007 traded to $6.16.
"Kansas City hard red winter wheat prices continue to increase on tightening world wheat stocks, reductions by the USDA in total winter wheat production, and concerns regarding drought in Russia and Ukraine wheat areas," said KCBT Chairman Frank Stone. "Volatility is occurring as the industry attempts to get a grasp on the U.S. HRW wheat harvest. Yields out of Oklahoma are lower than previously anticipated and harvest delays due to substantial rainfall in the Great Plains continue to bring quantity and quality concerns for this year's crop."
The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat.
