Total volume for the exchange in September amounted to 383,760 contracts, an increase of 8.9 percent from the previous monthly record of 352,271 contracts, which was set in June 2001. Before this new record, the largest trading volume ever during the month of September was 184,493 contracts in 1997. Volume this month broke that record by 108 percent.
Wheat futures trading volume of 298,281 contracts was the largest for any given September, breaking the previous September record of 162,700 contracts set in 1999 by 83.3 percent. Wheat options volume traded during the month of September tallied 84,493 contracts, creating a new all-time monthly volume record for wheat options. The previous monthly volume record of 57,723 contracts set in July of this year was shattered by 46.4 percent. Open interest for wheat options is also at an all-time high of 69,833 contracts.
Year-to-date exchange volume is up by 20.6 percent when compared to January through September 2001. Wheat futures volume is up 12.7 percent when compared to the same timeframe and wheat options volume is up 97.1 percent. Exchange volume is only 204,171 contracts shy of setting a new annual record.
