MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S. — MGEX, a designated contract market and derivatives clearing organization, announced on Nov. 8 that open interest recorded after the Nov. 5 trading session reached 77,344 contracts, topping the old record set on Oct. 8, 2007 by 539 contracts.

Open interest refers to the number of futures and options contracts not liquidated by an offsetting trade, delivery or expiration.


The exchange’s Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) contract accounted for the majority of the open interest, consisting of 71,198 futures contracts and 5,882 options contracts. The remaining open interest is in the MGEX Soft Red Winter Wheat Index (SRWI) contract where 264 open positions are held.

“This is a very significant accomplishment for MGEX,” Mark G. Bagan, president and chief executive officer, MGEX, said. “Never before in our 130-year history have our market participants utilized our product offerings as much as they are today.”