CME to Launch Wood Pulp Futures and Options

Chicago, Illinois, USA, 17 April 2007 -- /PRNewswire/ -- CME, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange, announced today that Wood Pulp futures and options on futures will be listed exclusively on CME Globex(R), the exchange's electronic trading platform, scheduled to begin trading in the third quarter of this year.

CME Wood Pulp derivatives will be the only cash-settled pulp futures and options contracts to be based on the PIX NBSKP Europe Index(TM) by FOEX Indexes Ltd. FOEX is a private, Finland-based independent company that specializes in providing audited, trademarked registered pulp and paper price indexes.

"In response to customer demand, these new contracts will settle to the FOEX Index, which is the industry standard for the global forest products industry," said John Harangody, CME director of commodity products. "The cash-settled over-the-counter wood pulp markets will now have a transparent, all-electronic marketplace for hedging and other trading opportunities without counterparty risk."

The CME Wood Pulp contracts are based on northern bleached softwood kraft pulp (NBSKP). The contract size is 20 metric tons with a tick size of USD 10 per contract (USD 0.50 per metric ton). Trading hours will be from 5 p.m. Sunday Central time through 4:00 p.m. Friday, with a daily one hour trading pause. The expiring contract closes at noon on the last trading day.

For more information on the CME Wood Pulp contract, go to http://www.cme.com/pulp; for more information on FOEX, go to http://www.foex.fi/.

CME (http://www.cme.com/) is the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on the CME Globex(R) electronic trading platform and on its trading floors. CME offers futures and options on futures in these product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and alternative investment products such as weather, real estate, and economic derivatives. CME is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE:CME) (NASDAQ:CME), which is part of the Russell 1000(R) Index and the S&P 500(R) Index.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo, CME Globex and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CLEARING 21 is a registered trademark of CME and New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. S&P, S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, Nikkei 225, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, TRAKRS, Total Return Asset Contracts, and other trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks that are not proprietary to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. are the property of their respective owners, and are used herein under license. Further information about CME and its products is available on the CME Web site at http://www.cme.com/.

Source: CME