Trading in two steel billet futures contracts; Mediterranean and Far East, commenced today on the London Metal Exchange (LME). Trading is available initially on the Exchange's electronic platform, LME Select, and on the Telephone market. Open-outcry trading via the LME ‘Ring' will commence on 28 April with the first prompt date on 28 July.
From the soft-launch, the Exchange will begin publishing daily evaluated steel prices and open interest volumes for both contracts. From 28 April, the full suite of LME market data including official and unofficial prices, open interest and warehouse stocks will be available.
Commenting on the launch, Liz Milan, LME steel project director, said:
"The purpose of the soft launch is to generate a build-up of liquidity in advance of the full launch in April. It also enables those new to the concept of futures to understand the different types of steel price and contract data that will be published by the Exchange."