Tim Andriesen, managing director of agricultural commodities and alternative investments at the exchange, said in a letter to CME customers that a prolonged shutdown and furloughs of US Department of Agriculture staff “could result in interruptions or gaps in reporting key agricultural pricing information from the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service [AMS].”
“As a result, we wanted you to be aware that settlement prices for certain CME dairy and livestock contracts, which are cash settled based on USDA data, could be impacted in the event of a prolonged shutdown of the agency and may require the exchange to modify the current settlement procedures of the following products,” Andriesen wrote.
CME contracts that could be impacted by the shutdown include:
• Dairy – September 2013 Class III Milk, Class IV Milk, Butter, Whey, Cheese and Non-Fat Dry Milk futures and options; and
• Livestock – October 2013 Lean Hogs, Live Cattle and Feeder Cattle futures and options.
