From Hedgeweek:
Seed Commodities Exchange to launch industrial hemp derivative contracts
Seed CX has constructed the first industrial hemp derivative contracts, which will be traded on its platform, subject to regulatory approval by the CFTC.
Edward Woodford, CEO at Seed, says: “We are focused on risk mitigation tools for the industry including crop insurance and derivatives hedging capabilities. One of the key steps to this process is helping to create an active cash market and generate economic research.”
The contracts have been developed in conjunction with research conducted at Harvard Law School, assisted by faculty at MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Woodford says: “We are excited to have developed the world’s first industrial hemp derivative. We have worked closely with hemp farmers and processors throughout the US, who want access to important hedging tools to protect this growing agricultural commodity.”
Active on a number of national and state hemp business associations, the Seed CX founders have played an important role in the development of the national hemp industry. after it was made legal to cultivate in the USA with the enactment of the 2014 Farm Bill Act.
Woodford says: “These are products that not only viscerally excite people, but serve a strong economic purpose for end users. This is a market with a total addressable production value, in its first year of legal cultivation, of over USD1.5 billion annually.”
According to the Congressional Research Services 2015 report on hemp, “the global market for hemp consists of more than 25,000 products.”...MORE
