Kansas City Board Of Trade Wheat Volume Third Largest In July

The Kansas City Board of Trade trading volume for the month of July amounted to 300,025 contracts in the hard red winter wheat futures contract, which is the third-largest trading volume for the month of July, behind 407,032 contracts in 2007 and 377,494 contracts if 2006.

Wheat futures open interest increased 1.7 percent in the past month when compared to the end of June 2008. Wheat options open interest increased 6.9 percent during the same time period.

As wheat harvest completes, active price volatility continued. During the month of July, the nearby contract traded in a range of 98 cents, as low as $8.07 and as high as $9.05. During that same timeframe in 2007, the price range was 83 1/2 cents, with a low of $5.73 and a high of $6.56 1/2. As of Monday, the USDA estimated hard red winter wheat harvest was 79 percent complete. KCBT floor traders are estimating HRW wheat harvest at 80 to 85 percent complete as of today.

The Kansas City Board of Trade, founded in 1856, is the world's largest futures market for hard red winter wheat. Daily quotes, market commentary, historical data and charting services are available on our website at www.kcbt.com.