NEW YORK, June 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced 574 lots of the new physically delivered Silver (1,000 oz.) futures contracts traded last week, with trades taking place each day.

“As our benchmark Silver 5,000 oz. contract celebrates its 50th anniversary of continuous trading, this new 1,000 oz. fungible contract offers a cost-effective way to manage risk in our deeply liquid silver futures and options marketplace,” said Harriet Hunnable, Managing Director Global Metals. “With strong demand for precious metals in China, India, and the U.S., we expect to see growing interest in this product which offers additional flexibility for individual investors and other market participants looking to hedge against economic uncertainty.”

This launch comes at a time when CME Group’s Silver futures and options average daily trading volumes year-to-date 2013 are up to 69,878 which is an increase of 17% on over the comparable period in 2012. Open Interest is at 378,589 contracts.

At one-fifth the size of the existing 5,000-oz. Silver futures contract, this new contract will be conveniently sized for market participants seeking to trade physical silver in smaller increments. It is fully fungible with the full-sized Silver futures contract, which means that customers who accumulate five warehouse depository receipts of the 1,000-oz. contract can convert them into one 5,000-oz. Silver futures contract.

These contracts are listed by and subject to the rules of COMEX.

As the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex^® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world’s leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  KCBOT, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of The Board of Trade of Kansas City, Missouri, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group