Starting next month, traders will be able to take positions farther out in Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) grain and oilseed futures than previously allowed, the exchange said Tuesday.
The CME Group Inc. (CME), which owns the CBOT, said it planned to expand wheat, corn, soybean, soyoil and soymeal futures cycle guides, which determine when contract expirations are authorized for trading. The expanded cycles take effect June 8.
The exchange said it will update its grain and oilseed cycle guides by “filling in gaps in the cycle.” It will add one additional new-crop expiration and its preceding July expiration for corn and soybeans and its preceding October and July expirations for soyoil and soymeal. In CBOT corn, for example, traders will be able to trade out as far as December 2012, as opposed to the current limit of December 2011.
The cycle guides have not been expanded since January 2003, according to the CME. The expansions are warranted because trading volume and open interest have grown “significantly” since then, the exchange said.
“Larger overall markets and higher volatility are causing demand for additional futures expirations not covered in the existing cycle guides,” the exchange said in a notice distributed on the CBOT trading floor.