On January 6, the London Metal Exchange (LME) said that in 2010 it registered new records for volume and value of trading of metals, consolidating its position as the world's leading metals exchange.
Accordingly, the LME's total metals trading in 2010 rose 7.4 percent year on year to 120.3 million lots (111.9 million in 2009). This was equivalent to 2.83 billion mt of material. In 2010 when prices also rose strongly, the notional value of all contracts traded surged to US$11.6 trillion from US$7.4 trillion in 2009.
"Despite, or perhaps because of, the volatile global economy, 2010 was again a very strong year for the LME. The early stage recovery, particularly in Asia and Latin America, generated resumed interest in commodity raw materials resulting in new record highs for a number of our metals," LME CE Martin Abbott commented.
Contracts introduced or modified during 2010 performed very well, LME said. Accordingly, steel trading ended a good year with 191,221 lots traded, equivalent to 12.4 million mt and US$6.0 billion. The second half of the year, following the merger of two regional contracts into a single global contract, saw a surge in volume growth. December was a record month with 30,751 lots traded, i.e., almost 2 million mt.