CHICAGO, May 25 (Reuters) - The Chicago Board of Trade's iconic grain trading pits will open for business more than two hours earlier on mornings when the U.S. government issues price-sensitive crop reports, CME Group said on Fri day, aiming to appease floor traders after electronic hours were expanded.
The massive exchange this week made the transition to nearly non-stop electronic trading of commodities like corn, wheat and soybeans in a bid to defend market share against rival IntercontinentalExchange .
CME said the markets will keep their existing trading schedule on days that the U.S Department of Agriculture does not issue key crop reports, maintaining a 45-minute split between the end of pit and electronic trading.
However, later in the day, a spokesman for the exchange said CME was "still considering extending open-outcry hours" to 2 p.m. CDT from the current 1:15 p.m. close.
The increase in morning trading hours could ultimately be a stop-gap measure for CME, as USDA is considering pushing back the time that it releases crop reports in response to the increase in electronic trading hours.
"They're trying to accommodate everybody," said Tom Uhlmann an independent floor trader, about CME. "It's either open early or have USDA change their release times.
CME, which owns the Chicago Board of Trade, the world's largest grain exchange, said that starting on June 12 open outcry trading will begin at 7:20 a.m. CDT ( 1220 GMT) on days that the USDA issues key crop reports, instead of at 9:30 a.m.
Trading will close as usual at 1:15 p.m.
Crop reports are released at 7:30 a.m.
