Intercontinental Exchange, the leading global provider of trading platforms and clearing, said December and fourth-quarter average daily volumes of traded derivatives contracts surged for the European natural gas and LNG benchmark, the Dutch Title Transfer facility.
ICE said its highlights included the total average daily volumes of the Dutch TTF jumping 55 percent in December 2021 compared with the same month last year.
The Dutch TTF also broke the record for fourth-quarter 2021 ADVs, up 69 percent and for the whole of 2021 the ADV rose 45 percent compared with 2020.
The Dutch TTF is increasing in importance as energy traders and asset owners manage their global gas price risk amid record prices for natural gas.
“Throughout 2021, and particularly during the fourth quarter, we saw consistently high volumes as customers navigated volatile gas and carbon markets, as well as interest rate uncertainty,” said Ben Jackson, President of ICE.
“In periods such as these, our diverse and liquid futures markets are mission critical for companies to manage their risk, and the resulting impact on end consumers.”
ICE said the TTF derivative’s open interest increased by 16 percent year-on-year.
In addition to the Dutch TTF, the ICE natural gas complex includes the Japan-Korea Marker, the US Henry Hub and the UK National Balancing Point, alongside the West India Marker (WIM) LNG (Platts) and the Spark LNG Freight Futures contracts.
