On March 18, the CME Group announced the “Initial Listing of the Hard Red Spring Wheat Futures and Options on Hard Red Spring Wheat Futures Contracts, effective April 13 for trade date April 14.” The first tradable month will be July 2025.
That new futures contract will trade alongside the current Minneapolis hard red spring wheat benchmark contract. MGEX has been the principal market for hard red spring wheat, offering futures and options contracts based on the HRS wheat contract, which debuted in 1883. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) became a subsidiary of Miami International Holdings (MIAX) after the two companies merged in 2020.
These two contracts differ in their specifications for delivery, which has traders scratching their heads over some of the delivery specs and rules in the new CBOT contract. Here are some of the CBOT specs that differ from MIAX specs:
— U.S. No. 2 northern and dark northern spring wheat at par. U.S. No. 1 northern and dark northern at 3 cents per bushel (bu) premium.
— Protein percentage: 13.5% at par; 13% to 13.4% at 10 cents/bu discount.
— Falling number: 250 or better at par; 225 or better at 25 cents/bu discount; 200 or better at 50 cents/bu discount.
— Vomitoxin: 2 parts per million or better at par; 3 parts per million or better at 20 cents/bu discount.
Here are some of the delivery specs for the MIAX spring wheat contract that differ from CBOT. The only change made recently was the addition of a new delivery station in Duluth, Minnesota:
— USDA No. 2 or better dark northern or northern spring wheat with a protein content of 13.5% or higher, with 13% to 13.4% protein deliverable at a discount.
— All above grades with 13% to 13.4% protein inclusive are deliverable at a 3 cents/bu discount.
— Deliverable spring wheat may not exceed 2 parts per million (ppm) deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) level. Vomitoxin levels of 2 ppm to 3 ppm deliverable at a discount. Levels exceeding 3 ppm will not be deliverable.
