Near Record Canola Volume on WCE

WINNIPEG - May 2/06 - SNS -- Trading volumes on the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange (WCE) enjoyed a 72% increase over year earlier levels in April, reaching 249,395 contracts across all futures markets.

This is the second highest level of trade for April. The highest volume of trade recorded for the month of April was in 2001 when 303,977 contracts were traded.

Trade in canola futures and options supported the overall increase with canola futures contract volume at 229,470 and canola options contract volume at 3,430. These levels of trade represent gains from a year ago of 84.1% and 77.3% respectively.

There were 7,134 feed wheat futures contracts and 9,361 western barley futures contracts traded during April.

The crop year-to-date total volume (since August 1, 2005) is 29.4% over that of a year ago at 1,956,966 futures and options contracts. Futures contract trade for the crop year-to-date is 28.8% higher than a year ago at 1,928,915 contracts, while options volume for the crop year-to-date is up 94.6% from last year at 28,051 contracts.

At the end of April total open interest stood at 116,172 contracts which is 52.8% higher than a year ago.

There were three records set on Friday, April 28, 2006. The July 2006 canola futures contract recorded the highest daily volume for a single contract when 16,438 contracts were traded. The open interest in July 2006 canola futures contracts was 56,914, which is a record for a July canola futures contract. In addition, the open interest in July 2006 western barley reached 9,430 contracts which is a record for a July western barley futures contract.