The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced on April 26 that it will launch a new option contract on its physically-delivered aluminum futures on May 23.

The new aluminum option contract will be listed on COMEX. It is now awaiting regulatory approval.

Young-Jin Chang, Global Head of Metals at CME Group, said that more and more clients turn to the aluminum markets. The traded aluminum futures contracts reached a record high of 4,888 on April 19, and the current volume in April averages roughly 1,300 contracts, a year-on-year growth of more than 100%.