CME Group Announces First Trade of Ethanol RINs Futures

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May 17, 2013, 01:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the first Ethanol Renewable Identification Number (RINs) futures contract was cleared yesterday over CME ClearPort. This trade was brokered by StarFuels Inc.

"As the most actively traded market for North American gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel and ethanol futures contracts, our new RINs products make a good complement to our existing suite of services," said Gary Morsches, Managing Director Global Energy at CME Group. "We're pleased to see this first trade in Ethanol RINs, and look forward to working with customers and other market participants to offer innovative new products that help manage risk in the energy markets."

James Damask, Manager at StarFuels, added, "Our clients are very excited about the new suite of RINs futures. With these contracts, they will be able to hedge their price risk exposure, achieve increased liquidity, and eliminate credit risk."

This launch comes at a time when CME Group's suite of Ethanol futures and options contracts are trading at record levels. The Ethanol complex has averaged between 5,000-6,000 contracts a day in 2013, which is up over 25% since 2012.

RINs futures provide a useful hedge for the price risk associated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) renewable fuel standard (RFS2). The EPA has created a credit trading system for compliance with RFS2 for various types of renewable fuels based on units called RINs.

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

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