Freight Futures market to watch today: Spot Futures Contract Roll
Monday was the final trading day for the September contract, and October will become the new “Spot” contract effective with the Tuesday trading session. This is known as the spot month “Contract Roll” and with this roll, there were some large swings. Nationally, the October contract (FUT.VNU201910) enters the month at $1.421 per mile or $0.02 lower than the expiring September contract (FUT.VNU201909). The October East regional contract (FUT.VEU201910) enters the month $0.18 below September at $1.413, reflecting steep month-over-month drops in its constituent lanes. The CHI to ATL contract (FUT.VCA201910) is 11% lower, the ATL to PHI contract (FUT.VAP201910) is 15% lower and the PHL to CHI contract (FUT.VPC201910) is 5.5% lower.
Showing strength on the roll were both the West (FUT.VWU201910) and South (FUT.VSU201910) regional contracts, which enter October at $1.550 (3.13% higher) and $1.226 (6.04% higher), respectively. The West was driven by a nearly $0.10 jump in the SEA to LAX contract (FUT.VSL201910) to $1.006. In the South, a $0.23 jump in the LAX to DAL contract (FUT.VLD201910) to $1.762 offset an $0.08 drop in the DAL to LAX contract (FUT.VDL201910) to $0.839. There remains 65,000 miles of total futures open interest with 30,000 miles set to expire at the end of October.
SONAR Tickers: Final September settlement prices and October spot month settlement prices
