CME Group is launching a new Aluminium European Premium Duty-Paid (Metal Bulletin) futures contract to begin trading March 21, the US exchange group said Friday.

"This new contract complements our existing regional aluminium premium futures contracts, and will enable a broader and more diverse set of our European customers to hedge their exposure to the aluminium premium," said Young-Jin Chang, CME Group executive director of metals products.

CME already trades an Aluminium European Premium Duty-Unpaid futures contract, plus an Aluminum Japan Premium and an Aluminum MW US Transaction Premium contract -- the latter two both settled against Platts aluminum premium assessments.

"Our new Aluminium European Premium Duty-Paid contract responds to commercial customer demands for a solution to manage their premium price risk and builds on the successful launch of our Aluminium European Premium Duty-Unpaid European premium futures last year," Chang said.

Since its April 2012 launch, the Aluminum MW US Transaction Premium futures contract has traded the equivalent of more than 1,368,475 mt and reached record open interest of 27,227 contracts on March 1, CME noted.

The existing Aluminium European Premium futures contract has traded 150,050 mt and reached a record of 5,127 contracts open interest on March 1 since it began trading in September 2015, while since launching in December, Aluminum Japan Premium futures contracts have traded 45,075 mt and reached a peak of 1,608 contracts open interest on March 1, it said.

Pending relevant regulatory review periods, the new contract will be available for trading on CME Globex, for submission for clearing through CME ClearPort, and will be listed with and subject to the rules and regulations of COMEX, CME said.