A hedge to arrive cash contract calls for future delivery of a commodity that agrees to just the futures price for that specific date. The negotiated grade, quantity, delivery location and time are specified and price is set based off a relationship to the appropriate deferred futures contract. This would represent the contract which would be the nearby month during the scheduled delivery period. In contrast to cash contracts, futures contracts are highly standardized with respect to quality, quantity, delivery time, and location. They are considered “benchmark” prices for the particular commodity because they represent the broad value at large, independent of local supply and demand factors.
