CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced Live Cattle futures open interest (OI) reached a record 453,659 contracts on March 21, surpassing 450,000 contracts for the first time. This marks five-consecutive OI record days, including the prior record of 449,733 contracts set on March 20.

"Growing open interest in our Live Cattle futures reflects the deep and robust markets for customers who need to manage risk during this period of significant uncertainty for the cattle industry," said Tim Andriesen, CME Group Managing Director, Agricultural Commodities. "We've been working closely with the cattle industry over the last several years to enhance our cattle futures markets. The growth of open interest suggests customers are increasingly confident in using these tools to hedge price risk associated with trade, weather and other factors."

Since the start of the year Live Cattle futures open interest has grown nearly 20 percent.  On March 12, 2019 the number of Live Cattle futures large open interest holders was reported at 467, the highest since May 30, 2017.

Live Cattle futures are listed with and subject to the rules and regulations of the CME. For more information please visit www.cmegroup.com/livestock.