Powernext and the clearing house European Commodity Clearing (ECC) are to introduce a series of new measures throughout 2016 in order to further accelerate the positive development of the TTF futures market.
In 2015, the volumes traded on the TTF derivatives market via the PEGAS platform operated by Powernext increased to 429 TWh compared to 150 TWh in 2014. In addition, PEGAS set a new record with more than 100 TWh being traded in one month in January 2016.
Egbert Laege, CEO of Powernext, comments: “These new TTF initiatives will benefit our entire customer base and also attract further customers to trade on this market, thus further strengthening our position on the TTF.”
A set of measures has been decided for this initiative. Tthe TTF futures market is mainly used for hedging purposes. Therefore, Powernext and ECC will further facilitate physical delivery on this hub. From 1st March, ECC will reduce fees for physical delivery for TTF Futures
Due to increased customer demand, trading hours on PEGAS will be extended in Q2 when the market will begin trading at 8am.
Furthermore, in order to address the needs of the financial community Powernext will ease connectivity to the PEGAS platform by enhancing technical connection to the back-end. PEGAS will introduce trading limits for derivatives in Q2 2016 in order to enable participants and clearing banks to better control their risk positions on PEGAS futures.
Additionally new initiatives will be introduced in the third quarter which will give traders better flexibility when closing open physical positions.
The product portfolio will also be expanded in Q2, giving traders the option to trade TTF four years ahead (Calendar +4).
Lastly, STP OTC registration will be further rolled out to strengthen the clearing of off-exchange business.
Further product initiatives are planned and will be announced in the course of the year.
