Wheat options trading in the month of August broke all previous volume records for August. Volume amounted to 18,349 contracts, which exceeded the previous record of 12,694 contracts set just last year by nearly 45 percent. Wheat futures volume at 237,878 contracts increased 13.2 percent when compared to July. Wheat futures open interest exceeded figures set in August 1999 and July 2000, by 10 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.
Traders at the KCBT attributed the increase in market activity to uncertainty about the European Union's wheat crop and the possibility for increased U.S. export sales, technical points driving the market, more commercial interest, and growth in industry participation.
