PARIS (Reuters) – Financial markets operator CME Group said on Tuesday that it plans to launch cash-settled futures for European rapeseed oil next month, using an Argus Media index for Dutch prices.
The new product will start trading on April 28, subject to regulatory approval, through CME’s Chicago Board of Trade exchange, the company said in a notice on its website.
The futures will consist of consecutive monthly contracts, starting with May 2025, and trade in lots of 20 metric tons, it said.
Rapeseed oil is a byproduct of rapeseed, the most produced oilseed crop in Europe.
The launch marks a fresh attempt by CME, whose U.S. corn, wheat and soybean futures are global price benchmarks, to expand in the European grain market.
The U.S. group scrapped a European Union wheat futures contract after failing to attract volumes against Euronext’s wheat market, while it suspended trading in its Black Sea grain futures following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Euronext’s rapeseed futures are a price benchmark in Europe but the exchange discontinued related futures for rapeseed oil and meal that had failed to trade actively.
At the same time, CME and Euronext last year jointly launched contracts to allow trading of price spreads between their respective wheat futures.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz and Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Susan Fenton)
