SEATTLE, WA, August 07, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The new products will allow Southeast Asian processors and importers to hedge their price risk against the international benchmarks. These contracts will be listed, traded and settled by the Seattle Mercantile Exchange.
The Seattle Mercantile Exchange's cash-settled soya contracts will give local market participants a tool to access international prices, adding a wider choice of hedging options according to their risk-management needs. The Seattle Mercantile Exchange currently trades a physically settled 25 ton soya bean contract which serves the local market. By adding the cash settled soybean products, local producers especially will have the flexibility to either hedge on the physically settled local market (based on local fundamentals) or the cash settled global market (based on international fundamentals).
The soybean is a rich source of protein which yields meal and oil in the crushing process. Soybean meal is a low-cost, high-protein animal feed that is widely used in United States. "While we do not produce soya locally, we import a significant amount of meal to satisfy local animal protein requirements exposing importers and downstream market participants to international price fluctuations. Having a product based on international quotations will give local market participants a tool to hedge on Seattle Mercantile Exchange against this price risk," comments Ben G. Chandler, Senior General Manager of Commodities at the Seattle Mercantile Exchange.
The new contracts will allow feed manufacturers, importers and the local oilseed crushing community the opportunity to use one or all three of the new products in their price risk management strategies.
About Seattle Mercantile Exchange (www.stmex.org):
Seattle Mercantile Exchange is one of the top commodities and futures exchanges in USA, focusing also on the Pacific-Asia region and offers a wide range of global benchmark products: commodities, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and also futures and options contracts. Seattle Mercantile Exchange's products include both exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives. We bring buyers and sellers together through Seattle Mercantile Exchange Capital Trader, our electronic trading platform across the globe and provide hosting, connectivity and customer support for electronic trading through our co-location services. Seattle Mercantile Exchange serves as a compass and a shelter for relevant production and operation and provides effective price references for USA's macroeconomic management.
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