Moscow Exchange launches trading in sunflower seed futures and swapss

On 20 December 2018, Moscow Exchange Group began trading sunflower seeds. The Exchange offered deliverable forward contracts with expiry dates ranging from three to 180 days, as well as deliverable swap contracts. The initiative is supported by the Exchange Committee of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Russian Union of Oils and Fats and representatives of the industry community.

Igor Marich, Managing Director of the Money and Derivatives Markets at Moscow Exchange, said:

"This launch is a step forward for Moscow Exchange Group in growing the Commodities Market. Sunflower market participants may now enjoy the benefits of on-exchange trading, in particular, transparent pricing, low counterparty risk and a robust storage and delivery infrastructure. It is notable that a new commodity is floated with the support of the largest players of the fat-and-oil industry who will help create a liquid market for oils on MOEX."  

Sunflower seeds will be traded on the Urozhai trading and clearing platform, which is also used to trade MOEX derivatives on grain and sugar.     

Currently, 33 of 54 elevators accredited with MOEX provide storage facilities for sunflower seeds in different regions of Russia, and more than ten elevators are in the process of accreditation. Delivery of the asset under MOEX sunflower contracts will be performed via the Rusagrotrans infrastructure.  

Moscow Exchange has hosted trading in agricultural products since 2015. It offers the full range of exchange-traded instruments (forwards and swaps) for trading in derivative financial instruments in wheat, corn, barley, soya and sugar. Total trading volume in wheat swaps and forwards was RUB 32.2 bn in the first eleven months of 2018, a six-fold increase versus 2017. In 2018, trading volume in sugar increased seven-fold to RUB 1.7 bn.