Why does the November contract trade with the most volume when the August and September contracts have yet to expire?
I believe it may have something to do with seasonality of AG products. The seasonal high in open interest for Soybeans tends to increase towards October and reaches its peak in October (104%) according to CRB. And also since Soybeans don't have a Dec. future listed so open interest holds constant (at above 100%) thru the end of the calendar year.
There are two different crops trading, "old crop" and "new crop", and they are not deliverable against each other. With nov, you are betting on this year's weather, harvest conditions, crop condition, etc. for beans still in the field, and we are looking at a big crop. Nov contract is the first chance people get to speculate or hedge on the crop that is actually growing, so it has a lot of interest. With Aug & Sep, you are betting on sales of already harvested beans that are in the silo, in known condition. They are really two different things. Jessie
November is the most important delivery month of the year for Soybeans. It is the first monht of the "new" crop. It carries the largest commerical interest, and of course specs take the other side of that interest. November is THE month for soybeans. Hope this helps.