KCBT Trading Volume Second Largest Ever For Month Of October

Trading volume in Kansas City Board of Trade’s Hard Red Winter Wheat futures contract and the exchange as a whole during the month of October was the second largest ever for the calendar month.

HRW wheat futures trading volume for the month of October totaled 367,433 contracts, which was an increase of 38 percent compared to October 2008 and 16.8 when compared to last month. There is only one October that saw larger trading volume: 421,499 in 2006.

Total exchange volume of 378,113 contracts was an increase of 35.3 percent when compared to October 2008 and 15.7 percent when compared to last month. October trading volume is second only to October 2006 volume of 465,752 contracts when comparing calendar months.

Open interest grew in both HRW wheat futures and options during the month of October. Wheat futures open interest of 126,602 contracts was 44 percent higher than at the end of October 2008 and 4.5 percent higher than at the end of September 2009. Wheat options open interest of 20,657 contracts showed an increase of 9.4 percent when compared to the end of October 2008 and 20.7 percent when compared to the end of September 2009.

Wet weather and harvest delays for corn and soybeans, along with delays in winter wheat plantings throughout much of month, created active market conditions for hard red winter wheat and contributed to the heavy volume.

The KCBT, founded in 1856, is Kansas City’s oldest business and the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat. Daily quotes, market commentary, historical data and charting services are available on our website at www.kcbt.com.