Minneapolis Grain Exchange

by · June 16, 2012

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange, MGEX for short, is the principal market for trade in futures and options contracts for hard red spring wheat (HRSW) that is grown primarily in the northern plains of USA and the Canadian Prairies. Established in 1881 in Minneapolis, the largest city in Minnesota, as a regional cash market, the original purpose behind its formation was to prevent abuses in wheat, oats and corn trading and encourage fair trade practices.

Hard red spring wheat, the hard brownish high-protein wheat, is used for making pizzas, high quality breads, cereals and hard baked goods including bagels and cookies.

History

MGEX was originally founded as Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in 1881 and ever since for the last more than 125 years has been a marketplace for grain producers, millers and processors.

The first futures contract introduced by the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in 1883 was for hard red spring wheat. It changed its name to Minneapolis Grain Exchange in 1947 since the term Chamber of Commerce became increasingly associated with organizations focusing on civic and social issues rather than trading activities.

The National Register of Historic Places list includes the three buildings of Minneapolis Grain Exchange in downtown Minneapolis.

The open outcry system f trading, which has traditionally been the best performing system for price discovery was stopped by the MGEX on December 19, 2008. Trading now takes place exclusively on an electronic platform.

Offerings

MGEX offers trades in several agricultural indices. These include Hard Red Spring Wheat Index (HRSI), Soft Red Winter Wheat Index (SRWI), Hard Red Winter Wheat Index (HRWI), National Corn Index (NCI) and National Soybean Index (NSI).

The exchange uses agriculture and weather data provided by Data Transmission Network (now Televent DTN) to develop the indices offered for trade. DTN is a B2B information and commerce company based in Omaha, Nebraska. As per agreement signed with DTN, MGEX has exclusive rights to its weather and agriculture data base.

Trading Hours

  • 6.00 AM: Overnight trading in hard red spring wheat futures and options closes and pre-open session starts.
  • 9.30 AM to 1.30 PM: Electronic trading of futures and options contracts of HRSW.
  • 6.00 PM to 1:45 AM: Electronic trading in agricultural indices.
  • 6.00 PM to 7:15 AM: Electronic trading in HRSW futures and options

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