OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2011. On April 25, 2011 a record trading volume of refined silver bullion futures contract was showed by FORTS, the futures and options market of RTS.

At the end of the trading day trading volume of these contracts amounted to USD 325,283,341 (RUB 7,787,153,062.86) or 58,059 contracts that equaled 180.5 tons of the metal. 

"Derivatives in precious metals have showed a strong growth in trading volumes and popularity among investors as instruments to protect investments in Russia and worldwide, due to high volatility levels of equity assets. The futures contract on silver is one of the most developed and dynamic contracts which allow users to diversify market strategies and improve investment efficiency", said Evgeny Serdyukov, Director of the Futures & Options Market at OJSC RTS.

FORTS, the derivatives market of RTS, is the leading trading venue for futures and options in Russia. Trading on FORTS started in September 2001. According to the Futures Industry Association the derivatives market of RTS is among the TOP-10 global derivatives exchanges based on the results of 2009. At present FORTS has the widest range of instruments in Russia. These are 54 contracts (40 futures and 14 options) on RTS Index, RTS Standard Index, shares of Russian companies, short term interest rates, currency, oil, gasoil, power, gold, silver, and sugar.