Open interest on ICE low sulfur gasoil futures hit 1 million contracts Tuesday, the highest level seen since the 10 ppm contract began trading in June 2014, Intercontinental Exchange said late Wednesday.
"This record reflects an expanding diesel market and demonstrates a strong growth in liquidity as market participants rely on ICE low sulfur gasoil to hedge exposure to diesel prices," ICE said in a statement.
Distillates in Europe have seen a rally over recent months, with a sustained period of backwardation at the prompt end of ICE low sulfur gasoil futures that began August 28.
The front-month, now October, contract reached a two-year high Monday of $551.50/mt amid this peak in open interest.
Meanwhile, managed money long positions, an indication of bullish sentiment, have also increased to record highs, according to the ICE Commitment of Traders reports.
On September 19, the long position in the Managed Money category hit 181,634, the largest since the 10 ppm contract started trading.
The percentage of the open interest represented by money managers also hit its highest level at 19.3% in the week ending September 12, according to the data.
Since then, in the week to September 19, managed money increased its long position, but represented a smaller portion of the total open interest as the percentage of longs in the Producer/Merchant/Processor/User category increased by a larger proportion.
