International derivatives market The CME Group announced today that the number of market participants trading aluminum futures has doubled since last year, reaching 406 unique accounts in April, while ADV is up 70% year-over-year and the average daily open interest increased by 11%.
“We continue to increase liquidity in our aluminum futures contracts, which in turn has increased acceptance of our contract in the industrial metals industry,” said Jin Hennig, Managing Director and Global Head of Metals at CME Group. “In addition to doubling our client participation from last year, April marked the first time a physical trade was reported in aluminum futures prices, which underscores the strong trading demand we are seeing for our transparent and well-understood markets.”
“We are pleased to execute the first CME Group aluminum futures-referenced physical contract after seeing its growing relevance in recent years,” said Brian Hesse, CEO of PerenniAL Aluminum. “CME Group has worked diligently to expand participation in its markets and create sustainable alternatives that benefit our customers. We look forward to seeing how these markets continue to grow and evolve to help our industry effectively mitigate price risk.”
CME Group’s base metals complex is growing steadily year on year. Copper futures and options also set April records, with futures hitting a record ADV of 194,937 and options reaching a record ADV of 19,513. Copper futures and options hit a combined open interest record of 588,115 contracts on April 24, 2024.
Aluminum futures contracts (ALI) are listed by and subject to COMEX rules.