The Moscow Exchange is launching trading in cash-settled futures on soybeans and corn, with prices tied to global quotations. Starting November 19, private traders gain a new instrument for earning on agricultural commodities, while farmers and processors gain a mechanism to protect against sharp price swings.
However, the risks here are no less significant: opening a position requires only 8–12% of the contract value, so even a moderate price move can result in a substantial loss. An additional factor is the dollar denomination of the contracts: the final result of a trade is affected not only by agricultural commodity quotations but also by currency fluctuations.
How the new contracts are structured
The Moscow Exchange is adding soybean and corn futures to the derivatives market, where derivative instruments are traded. The contracts will be cash-settled: no physical delivery of the goods occurs, and participants merely receive or pay the difference in price.
The value of both futures will be quoted in US dollars per bushel — a measure of grain volume adopted in the US — and one lot will be 100 bushels. The margin requirement, that is, the amount in the account needed to open a position, is set at 12% (12,000 rubles) for soybeans and 8% (3,000 rubles) for corn.
Traders will simultaneously have access to the two nearest series of each instrument — contracts with the two nearest expiration dates. Trading in each of them will end on the penultimate trading day of the delivery month.
Professional market participants and private traders will be able to use the new futures in their trading strategies and to diversify their portfolios. Investors will gain the opportunity to earn on changes in global prices for agricultural products, while producers and processors will be able to hedge their price risks.
The place of agricultural futures in the structure of the derivatives market
The new contracts expand the choices for private investors who already use the derivatives market to bet on exchange-traded commodities and even cryptocurrencies. In October, the bitcoin index futures entered the top ten most popular perpetual contracts among retail clients, although it accounted for only 0.3% of their portfolio versus 4.6% for gold.
If farmers begin hedging risks on the exchange, demand for soybeans and corn may form according to the same model as in the gold market, where companies conclude the main trades. Trading volume in precious metals reached a record 590 billion rubles in October, but private investors accounted for only 4.7% of gold transactions.
The derivatives market, which will include agricultural futures, still accounts for a modest share of the venue's turnover. At the end of October, the Moscow Exchange's turnover amounted to 212.9 trillion rubles, of which derivatives accounted for 16.7 trillion rubles, while almost 80% was provided by the money market, where banks raise and place funds for short terms.
Cryptalist analysis: The launch of agricultural futures is a logical step toward expanding the commodity lineup and attracting retail capital to the derivatives market, where institutional players dominate. The low entry threshold for corn combined with the dollar denomination makes the instrument attractive for speculative strategies but increases the sensitivity of portfolios to currency volatility. Sustained interest in the contracts will arise only with the formation of real hedging demand from the agricultural sector.