July has been the second-highest volume month for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s North Europe hot-rolled coil contract (EHR), and is just a couple of trades away from being the strongest.

The contract has traded 9,700t so far in July, with a couple of trading days left. April is the strongest month to date, with 10,500t traded across 525 lots.

September trade totalled 500t at €432/t yesterday — a deal brokered by FIS — while a September-October spread was concluded directly between two counterparties at €438-442/t for 500 t/month.

A new entrant recently joined the market. For new contracts such as EHR, which launched in March, each new participant tends to result in a sharp rise in volumes.

In its first five months of trade, the CME’s long-established US HRC contract saw the equivalent of 15,760t traded, while EHR has seen 32,700t traded to date. At least two participants are already using the contract to hedge risk, while physical use also augurs well for the contract.

Open interest stretches out to July 2021, although the majority is for the remainder of this year.