New Record Fiscal Year Trading Volume In Minneapolis Spring Wheat Futures

Hard red spring wheat futures posted record fiscal year trading volume Friday. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange fiscal year ends August 31. Total fiscal year volume through August 6, 1999 stood at 1,072,723 contracts, the equivalent of 5,363,615,000 bushels of wheat. The prior fiscal year volume record for hard red spring wheat futures, traded on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange since 1883, was recorded in fiscal year 1996-1997, when 1,068,403 contracts were traded. This is the third consecutive fiscal year during which over one million contracts, or five billion bushels, were traded. "I am pleased that in a year of great uncertainty in agriculture more people have turned to the Minneapolis Grain Exchange for risk management," said James H. Lindau, president and CEO of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange, established in 1881, is the only futures market for hard red spring wheat, white wheat, durum wheat, black tiger shrimp and white shrimp. The MGE also now trades on-peak and off-peak Twin Cities Electricity futures and options. For more information about the Exchange, browse our web site at http://www.mgex.com.