CME reports participation in its aluminium futures contract going strong

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group reported enthusiastic market participation in its aluminium futures contract at the beginning of 2023, with a record average daily volume of 3,161 contracts in February - 300 per cent more than the previous year.

CME said that in the first two months of 2023, it recorded an average daily open interest of 2,549 contracts, up 711 per cent Y-o-Y in futures activity.

Jin Chang, managing director and global head of metals with CME Group, said: “We are pleased to see that strong momentum in our aluminum markets has continued into 2023, and we look forward to helping more participants across the base metals supply chain manage their risk effectively.”

“In addition to strong volume and open interest growth, we also saw a record 166 unique users in February, which was up 186 percent over February of last year,” added Jin Chang.

The increase in aluminum trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange also coincided with the London Metal Exchange, as the aluminium contract on LME recorded the most active month in February since being introduced in 2015.

Some financial firms who benefitted from the ramped-up activity on CME said, “We haveb een closely following the substantial progress CME Group has made in growing aluminum volume and open interest and building a robust alternative marketplace” - Anant Jatia, founder of Mumbai-based Greenland Investment Management.

Chris Brennan of New York-based Jane Street Capital said, “We applaud CME Group for working quickly and effectively to create a stronger aluminum market alternative. As a leading liquidity provider in global markets, we support the CME Group’s efforts to improve liquidity and efficiency in commodity markets and are excited to see them expand their base metals presence.”

Luke Oliver, head of climate investments at New York-based Krane Funds Advisors LLC, says, “We applaud CME Group’s growing focus in providing investors with access to key battery metals materials involved in the energy transition, while also growing their global aluminum markets.”