Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced record total futures open interest of more than 48.1 million contracts on August 25, 2021.
ICE’s North American natural gas futures and options, which includes Henry Hub and U.S. Basis Markets contracts, hit record open interest of 23 million on August 25, up 10%, with open interest in Henry Hub futures and options up 28% year-over-year (“y/y”).
ICE TTF natural gas futures and options reached record open interest of almost 3.3 million contracts on August 25, up 22% y/y, reflecting the importance of TTF in managing global gas price risk. TTF holds open interest out to December 2028. In June, ICE extended the TTF curve to December 2031 following demand from commercial hedgers to further align TTF with typical lengths of medium to long term deals between LNG buyers and sellers, and to help market participants manage long term risk. The globalization of natural gas, which is contributing to the growth of TTF, has also led to the establishment of the Asian natural gas benchmark ICE JKM LNG (Platts) where open interest is up 26% y/y.
Open interest across ICE’s global environmental complex is up 21% y/y across futures and options, as participants use these markets to price climate risk. EUA futures and options open interest is up 28% y/y.
As the market manages changes in interest rates, open interest in Interest Rate futures and options is up 26% y/y at approximately 29.5 million, with open interest in Sterling and SONIA futures and options up 29% y/y and by more than 200% y/y respectively; Euribor open interest is up 10% y/y; and open interest in ICE Gilt futures and options, the highly liquid market benchmark for UK Government Bonds, is up 53% y/y.
Across soft commodities futures and options, open interest in Coffee is up 17%, Cotton is up 28% and Cocoa is up 22%.
