Cheapest to Deliver


Cheapest to Deliver

The individual units of an underlying asset that would be least expensive for the seller of a futures contract to deliver to the buyer. Some derivatives specify the quality of product that the seller must deliver. If there is no specification, the seller has the right to deliver any quality and still fulfill the requirements of the contract. In such a case, the rational seller will always deliver the CTD. This may be a product of lower quality, and the price of such a futures contract will reflect this.