CME Group Expands Dairy Business with New European Futures and Options

The planned European expansion follows September dairy open interest averaging 420,922 contracts a day, up 42% year over year.

Rhea-AI Summary

CME Group (CME) plans to launch European dairy futures and options before the end of 2026, pending all regulatory reviews. The contracts will cover European Skimmed Milk Powder, European Butter, European Whey Powder and European Liquid Milk, marking a first step toward regional expansion following an agreement with the European Energy Exchange earlier this year.

The launch plans follow record dairy open interest, or outstanding contracts: September monthly open interest averaged 420,922 contracts a day, up 42% year over year. Daily open interest reached an all-time record of 461,493 contracts on September 29.

3 points · 0 major

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0 major · 1 point

Hollow bars mark forward-looking points. How the balance works

Positive

• Moderate pointSeptember dairy open interest averaged a record 420,922 contracts a day, up 42% year over year.
• Minor point. Forward-looking: it has not happened yet and may not happen.European dairy expansion planned through new futures and options before the end of 2026.
• Minor pointDaily dairy open interest reached an all-time record of 461,493 contracts on September 29.

Negative

• Minor pointEuropean dairy contract launch remains pending all regulatory reviews.

News Explained

The new contracts will be financially settled, initially track EEX indices and later transition to CME Group indices; separately, CME Group and EEX are working to move the EEX Weekly European Cheese Indices and Pan European Butter Index to CME Group.

Key Figures

Planned launch timing: Before the end of 2026 September average daily open interest: 420,922 contracts a day Year-over-year increase: 42% +1 more

Planned launch timing

Before the end of 2026

Pending all regulatory reviews

September average daily open interest

420,922 contracts a day

Record monthly open interest in the Dairy complex

Year-over-year increase

42%

September average daily open interest in the Dairy complex

Daily open-interest record

461,493 contracts

All-time record on September 29

Key Terms

open interest, financially settled, otc

3 terms

open interest financial

"record monthly open interest of an average 420,922 contracts a day"

Open interest is the total number of outstanding futures or options contracts that have been created but not yet closed or settled. Think of it like the number of active tickets in a queue — higher open interest means more traders are involved and the market is more liquid, which helps price moves be more reliable and shows the strength of investor interest or conviction in a trend.

financially settled financial

"The new contracts will be financially settled"

A transaction or obligation is financially settled when the parties complete the payment side of the deal and the payment is accepted and recorded, rather than exchanging physical goods or securities. For investors this matters because it means the economic effect — gains, losses or cash movements — is final and reflected on accounts, similar to paying a bill and getting a receipt that the balance is cleared.

otc financial

"trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets"

OTC stands for "over-the-counter" and describes securities that trade directly between dealers or via dealer networks rather than on a formal stock exchange. It matters to investors because OTC listings typically have fewer reporting rules and lower trading volume, which can mean higher price swings, limited liquidity, and greater difficulty buying or selling shares—similar to shopping at a small flea market instead of a large, regulated supermarket.

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CHICAGO, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced plans to launch new European dairy futures and options contracts before the end of 2026, pending all regulatory reviews.

 The company will introduce new futures and options contracts for European Skimmed Milk Powder, European Butter, European Whey Powder and European Liquid Milk as a first step toward regional expansion following an agreement with the European Energy Exchange earlier this year.

These products will position CME Group to expand on recent record activity within the Dairy complex, including reaching record monthly open interest of an average 420,922 contracts a day in September, a 42% increase year over year, and an all-time daily open interest record of 461,493 contracts on September 29.

"We've long served the dairy community across the U.S., and now we're bringing that same commitment to Europe," said John Ricci, Global Head of Agricultural Products at CME Group. "By offering futures and options, we're giving participants a more complete toolkit to deploy capital efficiently and manage regional price risk - all on a single platform alongside our U.S. complex."

The new contracts will be financially settled and will initially track EEX indices before transitioning to CME Group indices. They will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME.

CME Group and EEX are also working to transition the EEX Weekly European Cheese Indices and the Pan European Butter Index to CME Group for continued benefit to the industry.

For more information on CME Group's dairy products, please visit here. 

As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, energy, agricultural products and metals.  The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform.  In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. 

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cme-group-expands-dairy-business-with-new-european-futures-and-options-302912019.html

SOURCE CME Group

FAQ

AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

When does CME Group plan to launch European dairy futures and options?

CME Group plans to launch the contracts before the end of 2026, pending all regulatory reviews. The contracts will cover European Skimmed Milk Powder, European Butter, European Whey Powder and European Liquid Milk.

How will CME Group's new European dairy contracts settle and be priced?

The new contracts will be financially settled and initially track EEX indices before transitioning to CME Group indices. They will be listed on and subject to the rules of CME.

Which European dairy indices are CME Group and EEX working to transition?

CME Group and EEX are working to transition the EEX Weekly European Cheese Indices and the Pan European Butter Index to CME Group.