KCBT Trading Volume Second-Highest In Exchange History

The Kansas City Board of Trade total exchange volume traded in June 2002 was the second-highest ever as 348,134 contracts were traded, trailing record-holding June 2001 volume by merely 1.2 percent.

The wheat options contract set several new records during the month of June. Volume traded in June toppled all previous records as 48,772 contracts were traded, breaking the previous record set last June at 40,663 contracts, by 19.9 percent. In addition to an all-time monthly record, this marks the seventh month in a row that this contract has set a monthly record when compared to the same calendar month.

Trading in the Kansas City Board of Trade wheat options contract set two new single-day records in June, the last of which was 9,491 contracts on Tuesday, June 18 and wheat options open interest climbed above 50,000 contracts for the first time ever since the inception of trading in 1984. Prior to the June records, the previous single-day volume record was set on May 29, 2002. The increase in volume led to a 5,273 contract increase in open interest, putting open interest at 50,715 contracts and breaking the previous open interest record of 47,713 contracts, which was set on June 21, 2001.

Wheat futures volume was also active in June, with the total of 297,835 the third-largest in exchange history. The exchange record was set in June 2001, with June 2000 in second place.

Year-to-date volume for wheat options is 35.6 percent ahead of last year at this time, and last year was another record-volume year for wheat options. The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat.