CME agriculture volumes up 7% in Q4

Traded volumes in agriculture products on exchanges owned by the CME Group increased 7.1% in Q4 2017 compared to 2016 despite lower volatility, it reported Thursday.

Average daily trading volume for agriculture contracts reached 1.35 million on average over the three months, up from around 1.26 million a year earlier.

CME also saw larger volumes traded in its metals and currency products – which it attributed to a concerted effort to increase activity outside of the US.

"Our primary goals in 2017 were to expand our global customer base, continue to innovate across our diverse product set and focus on operational efficiency," CME Group Chairman and CEO Terry Duffy said in a statement.

"In a year of historically low volatility, we set annual volume records in three of our six asset classes as well as in total options. We launched successful new products and saw growth in Europe and Asia out-pace that in the U.S,” Duffy said.

Year-on-year growth in the agricultural market outside of the US was 17% higher, as the exchange launched contracts targeting overseas markets.

This included cash-settled futures contracts for the Black Sea wheat and corn markets, with a new contract linked to a number derived from a daily survey of the market by price reporting agency Platts.

Current open interest on the Russian wheat contract currently stands at 2,710 lots, while Ukrainian corn has seen 100 lots traded, according to CME data.

CME also made headlines following the launch of a cash-settled bitcoin futures which launched in December.

The move helped to legitimise the burgeoning cryptocurrency market and provide retail and commercial investors with exposure to a controversial new asset class.