ICE Launches its first Futures Contracts Based on Battery Materials

Most Liquid Energy Derivatives Markets in the World Expands into Critical Minerals

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the launch of its first futures contracts based on battery materials, expanding its energy and environmental markets – which represent the most liquid markets to trade these products - into critical minerals.

ICE has launched four cash-settled battery materials contracts covering lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate, cobalt and spodumene futures based on Fastmarkets’ price assessments.

“Our customers are managing their way through heightened geopolitical risk, the evolving trade flow environment around critical minerals as well as the wider energy market,” said Jeff Barbuto, Global Head of Oil Markets at ICE. “These contracts are important new additions to our energy derivatives offering and we’re looking forward to working with the battery materials industry to find ways to add value to this space and build liquidity alongside our broader energy trading and clearing platform.”

“The battery raw materials industry relies on Fastmarkets’ trusted benchmarks as enablers for trade and investment,” said Przemek Koralewski, Global Head of Market Development at Fastmarkets. “Partnering with ICE further supports this growing market with the risk management tools it needs.”

The new battery materials contracts join ICE’s network of over 800 crude and refined oil products all underpinned by Brent, the price barometer for three quarters of the world’s internationally traded crude oil, and ICE Low Sulphur Gasoil the global benchmark for refined oil products at the center of middle distillates trading. Gasoil futures and options reached record open interest (OI) of 1.43 million contracts on May 29, 2025, up 29% year-over (y/y). Gasoil Options hit a single day volume record of 22,650 contracts on May 20, 2025, surpassing the previous record set in May 2016.

ICE’s global oil benchmarks hit successive OI records during May 2025 with ICE Brent futures reaching a record 2.9 million in OI and ICE WTI (Cushing) futures and options reaching 1.7 million on May 8, 2025, with ICE Murban futures hitting record OI of 85,365 on May 29, 2025. OI across ICE’s total futures and options contracts reached a record high of 104.6 million contracts on May 23, 2025, up 8% y/y, including a record 41.8 million commodities futures and a record 40 million energy futures.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds and operates digital networks that connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes helping our customers access mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and efficiency. ICE’s futures, equity, and options exchanges – including the New York Stock Exchange – and clearing houses help people invest, raise capital and manage risk. We offer some of the world’s largest markets to trade and clear energy and environmental products. Our fixed income, data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers streamline processes and capitalize on opportunities. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming U.S. housing finance, from initial consumer engagement through loan production, closing, registration and the long-term servicing relationship. Together, ICE transforms, streamlines and automates industries to connect our customers to opportunity.

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Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 – Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as filed with the SEC on February 6, 2025.

Category: EXCHANGES
ICE-CORP
Source: Intercontinental Exchange