KCBT Wheat Futures Volume Sets New Annual Record - More Than Two Months Remain To Build On Record

For the tenth time in 12 years, the Kansas City Board of Trade has set a new annual trading volume record in the hard red winter wheat futures contract. At the conclusion of Friday’s trade 2,893,314 contracts or 14.466 billion bushels had traded thus far in 2005. The previous record was set in 2004, at 2,883,370 contracts or 14.417 billion bushels. More than two months remain in the year to add to the record.

This record follows a series of new open interest records in the hard red winter wheat futures contract. In the last couple of months, open interest has risen exceptionally, with the latest peak of 124,178 contracts set just last Thursday. Furthermore, the Kansas City Board of Trade is on target to set a new annual volume record for the entire exchange. Currently, annual volume is a mere 226,071 contracts shy of meeting the previous record of 3,326,836 contracts set in 2002.

Jeff Borchardt, KCBT President and CEO, attributes the growth in volume to increasing participation from several market sectors. “Increasingly, funds are realizing what the commercial population has known for many years, that KCBT wheat futures liquidity is one of the best kept secrets in our industry. As the world benchmark pricing mechanism for bread wheat, KCBT wheat futures represent a critical financial instrument for both managing price risk and participating in the price movement of commodities a part of a more diversified portfolio of investments.”

The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's benchmark for hard red winter wheat prices. Open interest measures the number of open trading positions in a market. Each KCBT wheat futures contract represents 5,000 bushels of wheat.