During the month of October, several successive open interest records were set for the hard red winter wheat futures contract, with the peak of 125,273 contracts set at the conclusion of yesterday’s session. At the end of September, the record was at 109,789 contracts.
Wheat futures trading volume in October was larger than any other previous October. A total of 313,491 contracts were traded, breaking the previous record of 256,340 contracts set in October 2002 by 22.2 percent. Annual volume at the conclusion of yesterday’s trade was at an all-time high of 2,998,013 contracts as a new annual record was set on October 21. For the first time in exchange history, wheat futures annual volume will top 3 million contracts.
Total exchange volume was larger than in any other October at 342,315 contracts, topping the previous October record set in 2002 by 4.4 percent. By year’s end, a new exchange annual volume record will be set as the current tally of 3,213,426 contracts is only 113,410 contracts shy of the record 3,326,836 set in 2002.
Value Line® futures volume continued to show progressive increases, with volume traded during October seven times that of a year ago and 30.4 percent more than in September.
The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's benchmark for hard red winter wheat prices.
