CME to Expand Weekly Trading in Spot Butter Contract

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) announced that it would expand cash trading in butter to three days a week beginning March 8. The spot, or cash, butter contract represents 40,000 to 43,000 pounds of Grade AA butter. The spot markets will trade weekly on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:05 Central time. The minimum price fluctuations are $.0025 per pound. Currently, the CME trades spot butter weekly on Fridays at 10:00. "Expanding the trading sessions to three days per week will allow for improved price discovery and market transparency, which will give the dairy industry better tools to bring their products to market and manage their financial risk," said Bob Prosi, co-chairman of the Dairy Products Committee. The CME also trades butter futures every business day from 08:45 to 13:10. Additionally, its dairy complex offers futures and options on basic formula price (BFP) milk, cheddar cheese, non-fat dry milk and whey. Spot trading in cheese occurs weekly on Thursdays. The CME has traded butter since before 1919, when it changed its name from the Chicago Butter and Egg Board.