At the same time, open interest in both Class III milk futures and options hit new records respectively of 30,110 and 20,545 at the close of Tuesday's trading session.
Volume in milk futures has been building steadily in recent months and in February hit total record volume of 23,399.
"As volatility in the markets has grown, we have seen steadily building interest among a larger group of participants in our milk futures and options on futures contract," said John Harangody, CME's Director of Commodity Marketing.
CME launched milk futures in 1996 as part of a larger complex of dairy products that includes futures and options of futures for butter and nonfat dry milk as well as spot markets for cheese, nonfat dry milk and butter.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved about $1.4 billion per day in settlement payments in 2003 and managed $39.5 billion in collateral deposits at Jan. 31, 2004. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo and GLOBEX are registered trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at www.cme.com.
