WASHINGTON and CHICAGO — Trading of weather-related futures and options contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached record levels in January, with a significant increase over the transaction level in January 2002, the Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA) and CME have announced.
The record volume of 1,247 contracts in January for CME weather futures and options compares to just 11 contracts traded in January 2002. After trading activity in weather-related contracts on the CME rose over the course of the year, the January record was aided by recent frigid temperatures in the middle and eastern portions of the United States last month, according to the two organizations.