- Extended hours: Euronext will add a two-hour evening session (18:30–20:30 CET) for milling wheat, corn, and rapeseed futures starting February 2.
- Settlement unchanged: The official closing and settlement price remains the 18:30 CET level; evening trades are marked to that price.
- Liquidity impact: Longer hours may enhance price discovery and flexibility for European and Black Sea grain market participants.
- Risk caveat: The front-month contract will not trade in the last three days of its life during the extended session, potentially limiting expiry-period strategies.
Euronext Trading Hours Update
Euronext will introduce an additional evening trading session for its key agricultural futures as of February 2, extending daily access to wheat, corn, and rapeseed contracts. The exchange, which currently trades these contracts from 10:45 to 18:30 CET (09:45–17:30 GMT), will add a continuous session from 18:30 to 20:30 CET (17:30–19:30 GMT).
The extended session will apply to all expirations for milling wheat, corn, and rapeseed futures, with one restriction: the immediate expiration contract will not be available during the evening hours in the final three trading days prior to expiry. This limitation is designed to reduce settlement-related distortions and manage expiry risk.
Trading Day Structure and Settlement
Euronext confirmed that the official closing and settlement price for these contracts will remain fixed at 18:30 CET. All trades executed between 18:30 and 20:30 CET will be added to the same trading day’s volume and open interest statistics, but they will be marked to market using the 18:30 CET settlement price.
This structure preserves the existing benchmark closing price while allowing participants to manage positions and respond to news after the regular session. It also helps limit the impact of lower-liquidity evening trading on official settlement levels used for valuation and margining.
Implications for Grain and Oilseed Markets
For European and Black Sea market participants, the new evening session is neutral to marginally positive. It provides additional flexibility to react to U.S. market moves and late-breaking geopolitical or logistics developments that affect grain and oilseed flows. Over time, this may improve price discovery and liquidity in benchmark milling wheat contracts and could contribute to narrower bid-ask spreads.
Black Sea exporters and traders competing with European suppliers should track whether extended hours lead to new pricing patterns, intraday volatility spikes, or arbitrage opportunities between Euronext and other regional exchanges, especially during periods of heightened geopolitical tension or supply disruption.
Source: Market Data
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