The Australian Wheat FOB (Platts) futures contract will be available for trading on CME Globex, for submission for clearing through CME ClearPort, and will be listed with and subject to the rules and regulations of CBOT.  The financially-settled contract will reference the Platts daily assessment of the Australian Premium White wheat spot prices. The contract will be U.S. dollar denominated and will be 50 tonnes per contract.

“A significant amount of Australian wheat is sold overseas to markets in the Middle East and Asia, and with this new contract, international traders can now take exposure to export prices of Australian wheat without having to take physical delivery,” said Nelson Low, executive director, Agricultural Products, CME Group. “The addition of this new Australian wheat futures contract to our already robust suite of global wheat benchmarks increases our capacity to provide a convenient one stop venue for all wheat risk management needs, and the platform for market participants to create spreading opportunities with other CBOT wheat contracts.”

CME said the new Australian Wheat FOB (Platts) futures contract complements its existing suite of global wheat benchmarks, including Euro-denominated E.U. Wheat, Soft Red Winter Wheat, Hard Red Winter Wheat and Black Sea Wheat futures and options contract.

“Since starting its coverage of the Asia-Pacific wheat markets a little over 18 months ago, S&P Global Platts has established itself as a trusted independent source for detailed, concise and timely price information,” said Ian Dudden, global content director, agriculture at S&P Global Platts. “We believe the marketplace benefits from price formation and risk management tools that reflect regional fundamentals and welcome this recognition by CME Group of the role our price assessments can play in bringing greater transparency and efficiency to global grains markets.”