NYBOT Trading Volumes Continue March Upward - Cotton, FCOJ, Sugar No. 11 And US Dollar Index Show Sizeable Increases

Trading volumes for agricultural commodity and currency products at the New York Board of Trade® (NYBOT®) continue to show considerable increases. The NYBOT markets posted gains of a 13% increase in total futures and options contracts traded year-to-date, with total commodity futures up 12% for the year and total commodity options traded up 20%. Leading the way were a cotton futures increase of 25%, total currency futures up 28%, and the USDX showing an increase of 31% for the year.

The trading increases include:

Total futures and options contracts traded year-to-date are up 13% (2003 = 12,021,586 vs. 2002 = 10,597,608). Total futures and options contracts traded in the month of June 2003 are also up 15% versus last year (June '03 = 2,339,373 vs. June '02 = 2,034,966);
Total commodity futures are up 12% for the year (2003 = 8,259,498 vs. 2002 = 7,351,935). Total monthly commodity futures are up 14% (June '03 = 1,541,545 vs. June '02 = 1,352,987). Total commodity options contracts traded for the year-to-date are up 20% (2003 = 2,453,410 vs. 2002 = 2,049,977). Total monthly ag options are showing an increase of 24% (June '03 = 418,016 vs. 2002 = 337,394);
Cotton futures (symbol "CT") recorded a 25% year-to-date volume increase (2003 = 1,534,403 contracts vs. 2002 = 1,228,557 contracts). Cotton options (symbol "CT") have a 30% year-to-date volume increase (2003 = 716,167 contracts vs. 2002 = 552,377 contracts);
Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (or FCOJ, symbol "OJ") has a year-to-date futures volume increase of 16% (2003 = 303,941 contracts vs. 2002 = 261,088 contracts). FCOJ has a year-to-date options volume increase of 24% (2003 = 76,997 contracts vs. 2002 = 62,299 contracts);
Sugar No. 11 futures (symbol "SB") have a year-to-date volume increase of 12% (3,745,965 contracts = 2003 vs. 3,331,713 contracts = 2002). Sugar No. 11 options (symbol "SO") have a year-to-date volume increase of 6% (768,305 contracts = 2003 vs. 726,179 contracts = 2002);
Total currency futures are up 28% for the year (2003 = 863,135 contracts vs. 2002 = 674,846 contracts). Currency futures are also up 51% for the month versus last year (June '03 = 243,516 contracts vs. 161,480 contracts = June '02);
The US Dollar Index futures (or USDX, symbol "DX") has a year-to-date volume increase of 31% (270,606 contracts = 2003 vs. 207,330 contracts = 2002). Additionally, DX monthly futures volume has shown a 58% increase (73,876 contracts = June '03 vs. 46,866 contracts = June '02).

The NYBOT's markets have consistently experienced numerous volume increases over 2002, a year that saw total exchange-wide volume grow by 17% for the year (2002 vs. 2001), with the agricultural products volume up 16%, the currency products volume up 17%, and the index products up 52%. In addition to increased volumes for 2003, the Exchange has experienced numerous trading records for such products as Cocoa futures and options, Coffee futures, Sugar futures, USDX futures and the Russell 1000® Index futures contracts, among others.

For a complete listing of contract specifications for these and other NYBOT products, please visit the NYBOT website at www.nybot.com, and click the "Market Information" section, where the "Contract Specs" can be found in the column to the left.

The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) is the parent company of the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange, Inc. (CSCE) and the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE). Through its two exchanges and their subsidiaries and divisions, NYBOT offers an expanding range of agricultural, currency and index products. Information about the New York Board of Trade can be found at www.nybot.com and www.nybotlive.com.