Euronext plans to drop its established wheat futures before the 2018 harvest in favour of a just-launched premium wheat contract, the exchange said on Tuesday, shrugging off an awkward start for the new product.
Euronext has touted its new No 3 premium milling wheat contract as the answer to failings exposed by a rain-hit harvest last year. It also seen by traders as a riposte to plans by the world's biggest futures operator CME Group to launch a rival European wheat market.
After a promising debut on March 2, activity in the new contract has dried up. Open interest has decreased and some sessions have seen no trades, leaving market participants doubtful about its short-term prospects.
Euronext said it would open the March 2018 position on the established No 2 wheat contract on Wednesday, after previously indicating it might not do so in order to usher out the older contract. But the exchange still planned to discontinue the No 2 contract after the 2017/18 crop year and expected market users to be won over by features of the new product, Olivier Raevel, commodities director at Euronext, said.
"The two contracts are going to converge because operators are going to move towards the one which has more delivery points and which offers adjusted fees," he told Reuters.
Euronext had previously decided to upgrade the quality specifications of the No 2 contract from 2017, but Raevel said it would not be offering the Atlantic coast delivery silos or fee discounts that are available with the premium futures.
"There won't be any more delivery silos added to the No 2 contract and there won't be any positions opened for the 2018/19 season," he said.
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