The London Metal Exchange is the world centre for the trading of industrial metals – the majority of all non-ferrous metal futures business is transacted on our trading platforms: LMEselect (electronic), the Ring (open outcry) and the 24-hour telephone market. In 2024, 178 million lots were traded in total on our markets, equating to $18 trillion and 4 billion tonnes notional, with a market open interest high of 1.8 million lots.
A member of HKEX Group, the LME brings together participants from the physical industry and the financial community to create a robust, regulated market where there is always a buyer and a seller, where there is always a price and where there is always the opportunity to transfer or take on risk – 24 hours a day. The Exchange provides producers and consumers of metal with a physical market of last and the ability to hedge against the risk of rising and falling world metal prices.
Investors value the LME as a vibrant futures exchange and for its close links to industry. The possibility of physical delivery via the world-wide network of over 465 LME-approved warehouses makes it the perfect hedging venue for industry and provides a reference price everyone can trust.
The LME is the home of aluminium trading, and the daily Official Price for the LME Aluminium contract is the global benchmark price. 260,000 lots of LME Aluminium traded on average every day last year, equalling 1.8 billion tonnes in total.