A new malting barley futures and options contract has been launched by Europe-based derivatives business NYSE Liffe.

The contract covers malting barley from any European origin in a 50t lot size, and has been designed to meet the growing demand for new price risk management tools.

“We have seen unprecedented growth in our portfolio of agricultural futures and options contracts over recent years,” said Ian Dudden at NYSE Liffe. “Going forward, we expect malting barley to play an important part in the continued growth of this portfolio as demand for price risk management tools continues to increase across the European agricultural sector.”