Trading Statistics July 2009

Tanker and Dry Bulk Derivatives

The number of dry bulk futures transactions was up 87 % year-on-year, to 480. Dry bulk freight rates were volatile during July 2009, with the settlement rate recovering slightly towards the end of the month. Dry bulk freight rates can be illustrated by the Baltic Exchange Dry Index for spot rates, which was 3 757 at the end of May and 3 350 in the end of July 2009. The number of tanker transactions meanwhile went down 15 % month-on-month, alongside a fall in tanker volumes - down 38 % from June 2009, at 24 766 lots3. Freight options volume was 2 340 lots, down 9 % from July 2008.

Freight Open Interest

At the end of the reporting month, open interest for freight options increased 45 % year-on-year to 42 862 lots. Open interest for dry bulk was 24 523 and 29 530 for tanker futures lots (long only positions). The open interest is the total number of lots which remain to be liquidated by either closeout trades or delivery at NOS Clearing. NOS Clearing counts only long positions. Other clearing houses often count both long and short positions into the open interest.