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LME achieves another year of record volume

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The London Metal Exchange achieved another record year in 2008 with over 113 million lots traded, representing a year-on-year increase of nearly 22 per cent.

The London Metal Exchange achieved another record year in 2008 with over 113 million lots traded, representing a year-on-year increase of nearly 22 per cent.

This was the fourth consecutive year of record volumes for the exchange, up from the 93 million lots traded in 2007, which itself was an increase of seven per cent on 2006.

2008 annual volume represented some USD10.24trn in turnover, an increase of seven per cent on 2007.

December 2008 saw close to 8.8 million contracts traded, an increase of around 28 per cent on December 2007, partly due to December 2008 having three more trading days than the previous December.

Average daily volume for the month was 418,089 lots, against 381,187 the previous year, up ten per cent year-on-year.

Among the contracts showing the highest volume growth in 2008, nickel futures volume grew 37 per cent to 5.2 million contracts; lead futures were up 32 per cent to 6.1 million; and zinc increased 28 per cent to 16.1 million.

Aluminium futures, the exchange’s largest contract, reached 48.3 million lots, an increase of 20 per cent on 2007. Copper futures, meanwhile, were up nearly 24 per cent year-on-year, at 26.5 million lots.

‘Against a backdrop of exceptional market turmoil during the year, this strong performance reinforces the LME’s position as the leading market for industrial metals,’ says Martin Abbott, LME chief executive. ‘The exchange has demonstrated its ability to continue to provide highly liquid, efficient and robust markets and our investment in infrastructure and product development will continue in 2009.’

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