The contracts were originally scheduled for launch December 19, 2003, after MGEX ownership voted to approve rules for the two new financially settled wheat contracts on December 2. However, the launch was delayed following a complaint filed by twenty-seven MGEX members asking for an injunction to postpone the launch of the new contracts.
In a hearing held December 17, 2003, MGEX and the plaintiffs agreed to settle the complaint with no further legal action. At that time, SRI and SWI futures and options were projected to begin trading February 13, pending results of an ownership re-vote. MGEX announced today that ballots for a re-vote on contract rules wouldn't be issued until after the March meeting of the MGEX board of directors.
"We will use this slight delay to bring forward the best possible risk-management products," said MGEX President Kent Horsager. "Given the initial concerns surrounding the launch of the contracts, we believe this to be the most prudent approach."
SRI and SWI futures and options contracts will settle financially each calendar month to a three-day average of the spot Soft Red Wheat Index and the Spring Wheat Index, calculated daily by Data Transmission Network (DTN). DTN collects elevator bids daily for soft red winter wheat and hard red spring wheat and averages them to arrive at the SRI and the SWI. The contracts will reflect country-origin pricing for soft red wheat and hard spring wheat. Because there is no delivery alternative, futures and options contracts will expire simultaneously.
MGEX, established in 1881, is the only market for hard red spring wheat, Hard Winter Wheat Index (HWI), National Corn Index (NCI) and National Soybean Index (NSI) futures and options. www.mgex.com
