CBOT Sets Trading Record

CHICAGO - Jan 4/05 - SNS -- Annual trading volume on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) jumped 32% to 599,994,386 contracts, making 2004 the third consecutive record-breaking year for the CBOT. In addition, average daily volume in 2004 was 2,371,519 contracts, up 31.5% from 1,803,931 contracts in 2003.

It was the best year ever for the Exchange’s Agricultural futures complex, with volume rising 16.7% from 2003 to reach 85,149,570 contracts in 2004. Corn futures and options, Soybean, Soybean Meal and Soybean Oil futures and options were among the contracts that set annual volume records within the Agricultural Complex.

Corn futures set a yearly volume record of 24,038,233, up 24.7% from 2003. Corn options set a yearly volume record of 7,593,355, up 68.2% from 2003. Soybean futures set a yearly volume record of 18,846,021, up 6.8% from 2003. Wheat futures set a yearly volume record of 7,955,155, up 13.9% from 2003.

Soybean options set a yearly volume record of 6,045,952, up 23.8% from 2003. Soybean Meal futures set a yearly volume record of 8,569,243, up 4.2% from 2003. Soybean Meal options set a yearly volume record of 971,335, up 77.8% from 2003. Soybean Oil futures set a yearly volume record of 7,593,314, up 1.7% from 2003. Soybean Oil options set a yearly volume record of 947,383, up 42.3% from 2003.

Trading in the Financial complex surpassed last year’s record by an impressive 33.9%, totaling 490,039,117 contracts, compared with 365,838,537 contracts traded in 2003. CBOT U.S. Treasuries also shattered the prior record, rising 33.1% above 2003’s record to 383,992,387 contracts traded in 2004. The Financial complex saw records in contracts including Ten-, Five- and Two-Year Treasury Note futures and options and Thirty-Day Fed Funds futures and options.

Additionally, the CBOT Equity complex reached an all-time high of 24,038,021 contracts traded, up 54.6% from the record set in 2003.