New York Cotton Exchange - History

History

The cotton exchange is the oldest commodities exchange in the city. Well into the 20th century, cotton was a leading American commodity for both export and domestic consumption. In that era, other major exchanges existed in the United States. Several were founded within a few years of the founding of New York Cotton Exchange: the New Orleans Cotton Exchange, the Mobile Cotton Exchange, the Memphis Cotton Exchange, and the Savannah Cotton Exchange. Another important exchange was the Liverpool Cotton Exchange in Liverpool, England. The NYCE and the Memphis Cotton Exchange are the only organizations of that group still active today.

Annually until 1958, the NYCE published the Cotton Year Book, which contained the year's statistics on the cotton industry. Over the years, the NYCE created various subsidiaries to trade non-cotton contracts, including the Wool Associates, the Citrus Associates, the Tomato Products Associates, and the Financial Instruments Exchange (FINEX). In 1998, the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) became the parent company of both the New York Cotton Exchange and the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange (founded 1882). It is now owned by IntercontinentalExchange (ICE).

The New York Cotton Exchange was a tenant on the 8th floor of 4 World Trade Center until September 11, 2001. Following the terrorist attacks that day, it had to relocate to temporary facilities in Long Island City that had been set up as an emergency backup location following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Since 2003, its headquarters and trading facility have been in the New York Mercantile Exchange Building in lower Manhattan.