The volume of coal traded and cleared on the ICE Futures platform during June rose 66% month on month to a new record high of 311.6 million mt, primarily due to larger volumes of ICE Rotterdam futures, according to data from energy exchange ICE Futures Europe and electronic trading platform globalCOAL Thursday.
The volume was also 76% higher than the same month in 2015.
"The UK's Brexit referendum and surprise decision to leave the EU led to choppy prompt prices and increased volatility across all three hubs in June," the firms said in the report.
June's monthly volume comprised 48%, or 149.1 million mt, of options, which was 65% higher than May's volume and more than double the 52.5 million mt seen a year ago.
The amount of ICE Rotterdam Coal Futures traded and cleared during the month rose 64% on-month to a record 267.6 million mt, also more than doubling from 131.5 million mt in June 2015.
Of the volume, 52%, or 138.4 million mt, was traded as options, increasing 59% from May and up from 60.5 million mt a year ago.
According to S&P Global Platts data, Rotterdam prompt-month July derivatives rose $4.40 during the month to close at $55/mt on June 30.
ICE Richards Bay Futures volumes gained 71% on the month to 7.5 million mt, although the volume was 23% lower than the same month in 2015. No Richards Bay options were traded for the third consecutive month.
The Richards Bay July swaps contracts increased $3.70 during June to close at $59.55/mt at the end of the month, according to Platts data.
Volumes of globalCOAL Newcastle Coal Futures traded and cleared during June were 81% higher on the month at 36.4 million mt, which was also up 2% on the year.
Options made up 29% of the total Newcastle contracts at 10.7 million mt, which was more than triple the 3.3 million mt seen in May and a 38% increase from a year ago.
According to Platts data, Newcastle prompt-month paper prices gained $4.60from June 1 to $57.70/mt at the end of the month.
