Minneapolis Grain Exchange

From Riski

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) was formed in 1881 as a cash market for grains. The exchange launched its first futures contract, hard red spring wheat two years later. Today, it is a nonprofit member organization, trading futures and options on hard red spring wheat, white wheat, durum wheat, cottonseed, and Twin Cities on- and off-peak electricity. The MGEX is the world's largest cash market for grains, trading 1 million bushels per day. In January 2002, white shrimp and black tiger shrimp futures were delisted. In an agreement with Data Transmission Network (DTN), a business-to-business electronic commerce and information services company in Omaha, Nebraska, MGEX has exclusive rights to DTNs agriculture and weather data bases, which the exchange uses to develop index products. In February 2002, MGEX launched corn and soybean futures and options that are cash-settled against the National Corn Index and the National Soybean Index, two benchmarks calculated by DTN. The two contracts trade electronically on MGEXpress, the exchange's electronic trading platform. Trading on MGEX is conducted Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m.

Image:Minneapolis-Grain-Exchange-1939-room.jpg

Interior c. 1939

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange was actually known as the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce from its origins, in 1881, until 1947, when the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Chambers of Commerce which often serve as commercial booster groups. The original headquarters building was completed in 1884 and was located at South 4th Street and South 4th Avenue. The current headquarters, completed in 1907 at a cost of $700,000, is located at the same address. The renowned Minneapolis Arts and crafts designer John Bradstreet completed many of the building's interiors, but unfortunately, the only remaining evidence of his contribution to the building is the monumental trading room. The buildings are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

On December 19th, 2008, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange ceased operations of the open out-cry trading floor, but continues daily operations for the electronic trading platform.