June 4, 2019 - The Singapore Stock Exchange reported Monday a total volume of 1.27 million mt of coking coal traded in May in the PHCC FOB Australia futures contract.

This was up 76.9% from April, and was the highest monthly trading volume since April 2018 when the PHCC FOB Australia futures contract traded 1.69 million mt in total. A new all-time high of 2.91 million mt was also recorded for the combined open interest of futures and options on Thursday, before the May contract went into cash settlement on Friday.

A broker said the volume was supported by a couple of new participants entering the market, a return of volume in the calendar strips, and some larger-sized options going through.

Meanwhile, iron ore futures for the month of May rose 16.6% in volume from April, with a total of 134.16 million mt traded in the SGX 62% Fe futures contract. Iron ore options on the same futures contract traded a total of 56.22 million mt, up 35.2% from April.

The 62% Fe options average open interest for May was 108.51 million mt, crossing the 100-million-mt mark for the first time since September 2017.

The 62% Fe futures average open interest was 55.75 million mt, with open interest ending at 65.08 million mt on Thursday before the May contract went into cash settlement on Friday.

The open interest in the SGX 62% Fe futures contract went above 60 million mt for the first time on May 21 since November 29, 2017.