Trading in steel futures on the London Metal Exchange hit another record level in August, with 24,853 lots traded, equivalent to more than 1.6 million tonnes of material.
August was the first full month of trading following the merger of the LME’s regional steel contracts, known as the Mediterranean and Far East contracts.
The exchange has registered six consecutive months of record volumes in steel trading since March.
On 17 August, the LME added Chicago and Detroit to New Orleans as points of good delivery in the US for LME-registered steel billet, with effect from 16 November. Having storage facilities in these locations will enable industry in North America to use the contract. The exchange is expecting to register further North American storage locations as points of good delivery in due course.
In the last month, the LME also added a new steel billet brand from Spanish producer Corrugados Azpeitia, taking the number of steel brands listed with exchange to 45 from producers in 15 different countries.
Chris Evans, head of business development at the LME, says: “The LME steel billet contract continues to build momentum as a global benchmark. As liquidity builds we will continue to add new brands and delivery locations to facilitate trading.”
The LME’s steel billet contract is the world’s first global exchange-traded steel contract to be settled by physical delivery.
