Pork Belly Futures History
Chicago Merchantile Exchange (CME) began trading Frozen Pork Belly futures in 1961 - the first futures contract based on frozen, stored meats. Trading in Frozen Pork Bellies contracts was developed as a risk management device to meet the needs of meat packers who processed pork and had to contend with volatile hog prices as well as price risks on processed products held in inventory.
The futures contract was designed to help processors and warehouse operators manage these price risks. Hence, the Frozen Pork Bellies futures contracts performs the same two primary functions common to many futures contracts, that of: guiding inventories and establishing forward pricing.
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