KCBT sets new volume and open interest records in February

The Kansas City Board of Trade set a new exchange record for volume traded during the month of February. Exchange volume was at 228, 497 contracts, which surpassed the previous February record of 199,427 contracts set in 1996. Paving the way for an overall increase were new records in the wheat futures and options contracts. The wheat market was particularly active the past month, with the futures contract setting a new February volume record of 208,884 contracts. The previous record of 172,731 contracts was set in 1996. Wheat options also set a new February volume record of 13,120 contracts, breaking the record of 12,748 set in 1993. Traders said that the increase in activity could not be attributed to any single market sector. More trading was evident by funds, commission houses and producers. One trend evident the last half of the month was the rolling of March positions into May and July positions in front of first notice day for March delivery, which was Friday, February 26. When compared to the same time period last year, wheat options volume was 308.6 percent higher and open interest grew by 133.5 percent. Mini Value Line futures volume posted a 10.3 percent increase when compared to last month, indicating an upswing in activity. Western natural gas futures also posted increases when compared to last month. The volume traded increased 2.8 percent and open interest grew by 7.6 percent.