Trading Statistics for April 2009

The energy trading volume at 1 078 TWh, was up 5 % on April 2008. The number of energy transactions meanwhile was down 10 % to 26 160.

While the overall number of maritime freight derivatives deals was stable with March 2009 levels, dry bulk transaction levels surged to 287, up 91 % on the previous month and up 45% year-on-year. Tanker volumes meanwhile were down 6 % month-on-month.

“There are some very heartening figures in these statistics – energy volumes up 5 %, dry bulk transactions up 45 % and options transactions up 10 % year-on-year,” says Herman W. Michelet, Chief Executive of Imarex. “With freight options open interest hitting a record level and overall open interest also showing a clear upwards sloping curve since January, we are on the right track.”

Energy Contracts
The volume of energy traded, at 1 078 TWh, was up 5 % on April 2008, while the number of energy transactions concluded was 26 160, down 10 % from April 2008, indicating that the size of transactions has increased year-on-year. Energy volumes for the first four months of 2009 are now showing an increase of more than 8 % year-on-year.

Tanker and Dry Bulk Derivatives
The number of dry bulk futures transactions was up 45 % from the same period in 2008. Dry bulk freight rates increased through April 2009. The dry bulk freight rates can be illustrated by the Baltic Exchange Dry Index for spot rates, which was 1 615 at the end of March and 1 786 at the end of April 2009. The tanker futures volume meanwhile was 18 812 lots3 in April, down 6 % from March 2009 and 14 % from the same month last year. The number of freight options transactions was 67, up 10% from April 2008.

Freight Open Interest
At the end of the reporting month, open interest for dry bulk and tanker futures was 27 173 and 30 648 lots respectively (long only positions). Open interest for freight options hit a new high of 39 736 lots. The open interest is the total number of lots which remain to be liquidated by either close-out 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.
 

For more information, please contact:

• Herman W. Michelet, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +47 2389 4223, hm@imarex.com
• Arild Jæger, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +47 2389 4211, arj@imarex.com

Click here for a full PDF report with charts.

A downloadable excel spreadsheet with trade statistics and financials is available here.