CME Group Will Launch New Electronic Trading Hours

Changes Take Effect This Weekend – May 20

As you saw in last week’s edition of News & Notes, the Ohio AgriBusiness Association has been following – and has been actively engaged in – the CME Group’s consideration of expanding electronic futures trading.

The CME Group has amended its plan to expand its Globex electronic trading hours in response to industry concerns that sufficient time be provided during normal business hours to reconcile trading accounts and perform other required administrative functions that occur following the daily market close for grain and oilseed futures and options contracts.

In response to the CME Group’s action to close electronic trading in grain and oilseed from 2 to 5 p.m. Central time, the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) and North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA) today submitted a joint letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) withdrawing their petition requesting a 30-day comment period on the exchange’s planned expansion of electronic trading. 

The CME Group will offer expanded electronic trading hours in its Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grain and oilseed futures and options beginning Sunday, May 20 for Monday, May 21 trade date. Hours will expand from the current 17 hours per day to 21 hours per day on CME Globex from 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CT Sunday to Friday.

Products included in the expanded hours are CBOT Corn, Mini-Sized Corn, Soybeans, Mini-Sized Soybeans, Wheat, Mini-Sized Wheat, Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil, Rough Rice, Oats and Ethanol futures and options, plus all related calendar spread options and inter-commodity spread options.

Daily settlements will continue to be based on market activity at or around 1:15 p.m. CT each day. Additionally, open-outcry trading hours will continue to operate from 9:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. CT Monday to Friday.

The Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) has also amended its expanded electronic trading to close between 2 to 5 p.m. CT, mirroring the CME Group’s action.

NGFA and NAEGA will continue to work with the CME Group and others to address a still-unresolved industry concern – the release of key U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistical and economic reports during electronic trading hours. Currently, electronic and open-outcry trading does not begin until 9:30 a.m. CT, two hours after the release of crop production, crop progress, grain stocks, planted acreage and other potentially market-moving USDA reports. There is concern from many market participants that the release of such USDA reports during electronic trading hours could increase market volatility and disadvantage some market participants because of unequal access to USDA report data in a timely manner because of such factors as lower Internet bandwidth speeds in rural areas. 

For more information about OABA’s engagement in this process, click here.