Open Interest In KCBT Wheat Futures Market Hits 100,000 Contracts

Open interest in the Kansas City Board of Trade hard red winter wheat futures contract has exceeded 100,000 contracts for the first time in exchange history. At the conclusion of Wednesday’s trade, open interest was at 100,969 contracts, breaking the previous record of 98,969 contracts set on August 24, 2005.

The new record represents 504.85 million bushels of wheat compared to the old record of 494.85 million bushels.

"This newest record is among the most monumental in our exchange history. Increasingly, funds are realizing what the commercial population has known for many years, that KCBT wheat futures liquidity is one of the best kept secrets in our industry," explained Jeff Borchardt, KCBT President and CEO. "As the world benchmark pricing mechanism for bread wheat, KCBT wheat futures represent a critical financial instrument for both managing price risk and participating in the price movement of commodities a part of a more diversified portfolio of investments."

Wheat futures trading volume has been record-breaking thus far this year. New monthly records were set in February, April, May, June and August. This spate of new records culminated in August, with the largest month ever for wheat futures. A total of 430,409 wheat contracts traded in August, representing 2.15 billion bushels.

Year-to-date trading volume in the KCBT wheat futures contract at the middle of September was 14.2 percent ahead compared to last year through the month of September. As of September 15, the KCBT wheat futures contract traded 2,483,330 contracts, compared to a total of 2,883,370 in all of 2004, an annual volume record. Therefore, 2005 volume thus far is a mere 400,040 contracts shy of a new annual record.

The Kansas City Board of Trade, chartered in 1876, is the world's benchmark for hard red winter wheat prices.

Open interest measures the number of open trading positions in a market. Each KCBT wheat futures contract represents 5,000 bushels of wheat.