April ADV up 14%; ADV Up 3% Year-to-Date;
Record Open Interest at ICE Futures Europe
CDS Clearing Exceeds $250 Billion in Notional Value
IntercontinentalExchange(R) (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of regulated global futures exchanges and over-the-counter (OTC) markets, today reported April 2009 average daily volume (ADV) of 983,928 for all ICE futures contracts, up 14% from 863,325 contracts in April 2008. Total futures volume in April was 20.7 million contracts.
Year-to-date through April 30, 2009, ADV across ICE’s futures exchanges was 995,545 contracts, an increase of 3% compared to the same period of 2008. ADV for ICE Futures Europe(R) and ICE Futures U.S.(R) grew 3% and 4%, respectively, compared to the first four months of 2008.
European Futures Volume and RPC
ICE Futures Europe is ICE’s London-based energy futures exchange. In April, ICE Futures Europe reported total volume of 11,959,728 contracts, a 4% decrease from 12,517,220 in April 2008. ADV was 569,511, a slight increase compared to the prior April.
The three-month average rate per contract (RPC) for April 2009 was $1.61. RPC averaged $1.57 and $1.55 for the three months ended March and February, respectively. RPC is calculated by dividing transaction revenues by contract volume, and can vary based on pricing, customer and product mix.
On April 30, 2009, open interest for ICE Futures Europe was a record 2,510,981 contracts, compared to 2,102,574 contracts on December 31, 2008.
North American Futures Volume and RPC
ICE’s agricultural, soft commodity, financial and index futures trade on ICE’s North American futures exchanges. Total volume at ICE Futures U.S. was 8,325,766 contracts during the month of April, 36% higher than 6,140,692 contracts in April 2008. ADV was 396,465 for the month, an increase of 42% from April 2008.
The three-month average RPC for April 2009 was $2.33 for ICE Futures U.S. agricultural contracts. RPC averaged $2.34 and $2.33 for the three months ended March and February, respectively. RPC for ICE Futures U.S. financial contracts averaged $0.77 for the three months ended April 2009. RPC averaged $0.78 and $0.81 for the three months ended March and February, respectively.
Open interest for ICE Futures U.S. was 2,648,238 contracts on April 30, 2009, compared to 3,028,877 contracts on December 31, 2008.
ICE Futures Canada(R) recorded total monthly volume of 376,995 contracts in April 2009, an increase of 12% from April 2008. ADV was 17,952, up 18% from April 2008. Open interest for ICE Futures Canada was 121,867 as of April 30, 2009, compared to 97,673 contracts on December 31, 2008.
ICE Futures: Rolling Three-Month Average Rate per Contract
Three Months Three Months Three Months
Ending Ending Ending
Product Line April 2009 March 2009 February 2009
ICE Futures Europe $1.61 $1.57 $1.55
ICE Futures U.S. Ag $2.33 $2.34 $2.33
ICE Futures U.S. Fin $0.77 $0.78 $0.81
Additional April 2009 Information:
— ICE Trust(TM), ICE’s credit default swap clearing house, has
cleared 2,493 transactions totaling $257 billion of notional value, and
resulting in $30 billion of open interest through May 1. ICE Trust is
the industry’s leading CDS clearing house.
— On April 27, ICE announced 20 new cleared OTC oil contracts, available
beginning May 18. With these new contracts, ICE has introduced more than
100 new cleared OTC and futures contracts since the launch of ICE Clear
Europe(R) in November 2008.
— Trading days in April 2009:
— ICE Futures Europe: 21
— ICE Futures U.S. Agricultural: 21
— ICE Futures U.S. Currency and Index: 21
— ICE Futures Canada: 21
— ICE Futures Europe product records achieved in April 2009:
— Volume, ADV and open interest records were established for several
coal and emissions contracts.
— Gas Oil futures achieved record open interest of 479,930 on April
27.
ICE Futures: April 2009 Average Daily Volume by Product
ADV ADV ADV
Product Line April 2009 April 2008 % Change
ICE Brent Crude futures 253,083 259,242 -2.4
ICE WTI Crude futures 160,618 197,424 -18.6
ICE Gas Oil futures 117,996 96,871 21.8
Other contracts (1) 37,814 15,427 145.1
Total ICE Futures Europe 569,511 568,965 0.1
Russell 2000(R) mini futures & options 151,867 1,675 8,969.4
Sugar No. 11 futures & options 168,135 164,341 2.3
Other agricultural commodity contracts (2) 67,813 101,506 -33.2
Currency futures (3) 2,506 5,016 -50.0
Index futures (4) 5,884 6,130 -4.0
Other contracts (5) 260 455 -43.0
Total ICE Futures U.S. 396,465 279,122 42.0
Total ICE Futures Canada (6) 17,952 15,238 17.8
—— —— —-
TOTAL FUTURES CONTRACTS 983,928 863,325 14%
(1) "Other contracts" include ICE Middle East Sour Crude futures; ICE
Heating Oil futures; ICE Unleaded Gasoline Blendstock (RBOB) futures;
ICE UK Natural Gas futures; ICE-ECX CFI futures; ICE-ECX CFI CER
futures; ICE UK Electricity futures; ICE Coal futures; ICE Brent
options; ICE WTI options, ICE Gas Oil options; ICE-ECX CFI options
and ICE-ECX CFI CER options. The ICE-ECX CFI futures and options
contracts and the ICE-ECX CFI CER futures and options contracts are
the result of a cooperative relationship between ICE Futures Europe
and the Chicago Climate Exchange, Inc. and its subsidiary, the
European Climate Exchange. ICE Futures Europe shares in the revenue
derived from the ECX CFI and ECX CER futures and options contracts.
(2) "Other agricultural commodity contracts" include futures and/or
options for Cocoa, Coffee "C", Cotton No. 2, Orange Juice, Sugar No.
14 and Sugar No. 16.
(3) "Currency futures" include futures for foreign exchange products and
ICE Millions contracts.
(4) "Index futures" include futures for the U.S. Dollar Index(R), Russell
2000 (full size), Russell 1000(R), Russell 1000 mini, the Continuous
Commodity Index, the Euro Index, and the NYSE Composite. The
transition of the Russell Index futures and options contracts to
exclusive trading on ICE occurred in September 2008.
(5) "Other contracts" include options on foreign exchange futures and
options on index futures, excluding Russell 2000 mini options.
(6) "ICE Futures Canada" includes futures and options for Canola and
Western Barley.
Monthly RPC and volumes are estimated using best available current information. Final figures are reported in ICE’s quarterly and annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.