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In 2004 a total of 397 TWh was traded on the Spot and Derivatives Market of EEX compared to 391 TWh in the year 2003. This means that the high turnover level of the previous year could be kept at a stable level. In particular the Spot Market developed well with an increase of 20% to 60 TWh in the year 2004 from 50 TWh in the year 2003. Compared to the German electricity consumption, the turnover realized on the Spot Market corresponds to approximately 12 per cent of the total annual consumption.
In the course of the year 2004 the number of trading participants increased by about 10 per cent to 123 companies, compared to 112 trading participants as of the end of the previous year. At the same time the international character of the biggest continental power exchange with headquarters in Leipzig also continued to show a positive development: During the year under review trading participants from the European countries of the Czech Republic and Greece as well as the first US company trading directly on the EEX were admitted to trading on the exchange. In November 2004 the American regulatory authority for commodity derivatives markets (CFTC) permitted EEX to admit US companies to futures trading on the exchange. All in all the trading participants rep-resented 16 countries as of the reference day for the last year compared to 13 countries as of the end of the year 2003.
“The continuous progress in our international presence is a strategic milestone on our path towards the leading position among the energy exchanges in Europe for us“, Dr. Hans-Bernd Menzel, CEO of European Energy Exchange AG, underlines and in this context points to the fact that it is not only the trading participants of EEX who are becoming more and more international but also the shareholders are: today 56 companies from 11 countries own shares in EEX.
Liquidity, which has shown a very positive development, has also led to a visibly strengthened confidence on the part of the financial sector, which found expression in particular in a considerably increased participation in trading by the banks during the last year. By now thirteen renowned international banks and other financial service providers, among them for example globally active funds, are trading on the European Energy Exchange. The increasing market confidence in EEX is also underlined by a considerably in-creased acceptance of the EEX clearing system and a drastic increase in the clearing business. Three major international banks were included during the period referred to, so that the number of EEX clearing partners has now increased to ten banks. The huge gain in confidence with regard to the clearing system can be seen even more clearly in the development of the open interest. The open interest is the sum of the open risk positions of all trading participants. Therefore, it is considered an important indicator for the future growth to be expected with regard to a derivative. The open interest in the EEX clearing system doubled to approximately 120 TWh with a market value of approximately 4.4 billion Euros within the course of one year.
Against the background of the position of EEX, which was strengthened because of these developments, as well as of the essential strategic decisions taken in the year 2004 and paving the way for the future, such as the integration and optimisation of the trading and clearing systems, the introduction of options trading and finally the introduction of the first CO2 price index ever by an exchange, which was connected with the preparations for trading of emission allowances on the exchange, EEX sees itself well-prepared also for the new business year which has just begun.
