History

Since 1881, MGEX has provided valuable price discovery and risk management services to producers and consumers involved in volatile commodities markets around the world.

MGEX past | MGEX present | MGEX future | Contract Timeline

______________________________________________________________________________________________

TODAY’S EXCHANGE

Trading futures contracts at MGEX means trading 100 percent electronically on the CME Globex® platform. Options contracts continue to trade side by side via the electronic platform and open outcry. The trading activity has moved from the historic trading floor to the new state-of-the art Exchange Room on the 8th floor of the North Grain Exchange building.

MGEX provides futures and options contracts for our flagship Hard Red Spring Wheat contract and five financially settled agricultural Index Products.  All are traded on the CME Globex® platform. Buyers and sellers of futures and options contracts from around the globe utilize the MGEX marketplace to conduct their risk management activities.  MGEX also hosts the cash market, providing a valuable service for market participants.  An average of one million bushels of corn, wheat, barley, oats, rye, flax and soybeans change hands daily. 

In addition to being a marketplace for executing contracts, MGEX provides essential clearing services via its clearing house.  The clearing house guarantees performance of executed futures and options contracts by assuming the counter party risk to each buyer and seller.  MGEX also establishes and monitors minimum financial and operational standards for its clearing members.  In the event of a failure by a clearing member to timely remit all required funds to the MGEX clearing house, the Exchange has authority pursuant to Chapter 21 of the Rulebook to immediately take any action it deems necessary for the safety, security and financial well being of customers, clearing members, and the clearing house and their respective funds.  If the offending clearing member’s security deposits and other available assets, as well as any guarantees, are insufficient to cover the amounts due the clearing house, the Exchange may access its clearing house reserve funds, the security deposit pool, and other surplus MGEX funds.  Additionally, MGEX may draw upon a line of credit.  The combined value of these readily available resources is in excess of $20 million.  Please note that the size and composition of available financial resources is dependant upon many factors and subject to change.

In December 2004, MGEX launched five electronically traded agricultural index contracts. These contracts are based on Data Transmission Network (DTN) calculated country-origin based indexes. The indexes represent country elevator prices to a much closer degree than the traditional deliverable contracts.

In addition to the indexes, hard red spring wheat trades electronically during trading and night-time hours. Look for information about these contracts in the products section of this site.

As the Exchange continues to evolve, MGEX leaders still look to the original Articles of Incorporation for future direction.  The mission of the Exchange is to provide and oversee a fair and reliable marketplace offering personalized service, and efficient transaction execution and clearing.