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LME open-outcry trade lives on as SocGen gave up stimulates no rush for exits

The future of ring trading on the London Metal Exchange looks assured in the meantime after nearly all the companies involved told Reuters they stayed committed to openoutcry trading at one of the last locations to still support it.

However with emergency dropping towards the level at which LME management has said it would suspend the process after Societe Generale said last week it would no longer take part, its longer term outlook is less sure.

The ring has its roots in the early 19th century when the Royal Exchange, the world's very first products market, became so crowded that metal merchants gathered at the Jerusalem coffee home on Cornhill in the City to perform service.

In the 1980s, about 30 companies handled the LME ring, which functions a circle of cushioned red leather seats for traders who usage arcane hand signals during five-minute bursts of extreme trading in copper, aluminium and other metals.

Now, just seven participants remain, and the LME has stated the flooring will close if the number of ring members falls below six, or if their trading in the 2nd ring is up to less than 75% of last year's level.

The LME, owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Cleaning Ltd. , said on Friday that trading volumes remain above the. 75% limit, but did not state by how much. It declined to. comment further.

Numerous sources stated high costs for ring-dealing companies and a. international trend towards electronic trade threaten to weaken the. minimum variety of participants needed to keep the olden. trading technique afloat.

The loss of the ring, which includes four sessions of. trading a day, would be a blow for miners and industrial firms. that value flooring trading.

They regard open-outcry dealing, utilized to crystalise official. costs for physical deals using an intricate structure of multiple. forward dates, as absent of speculative impacts.

For several years, there has actually been tension in between standard. physical users and the monetary neighborhood that includes hedge. funds, speculators and Commodity Trade Consultant investment funds. and funds driven by algorithmic programs.

Numerous enduring users see a threat too that an excess of. computer-driven speculative flows can distort rates that are. essential to handle physical metal.

It's that second ring close, the main price, that's. void of algos, devoid of CTAs, devoid of specs, that still has an. appeal, stated Marc Bailey, CEO of ring-trader Sucden Financial.

QUESTIONS OVER VIABILITY

A protest from physical LME users conserved the ring 3 years. back when the 147-year-old LME proposed to close the trading. flooring and sign up with the bulk of other monetary exchanges that have. relocated to pure electronic trading.

The exchange argued that a temporary switch to full digital. trading during COVID-19 proved that the ring was not important.

However the LME ultimately compromised and now runs on a. hybrid basis, utilizing open-outcry trading for official costs utilized. by physical users as standards for their deals and an. electronic system for closing costs.

Longstanding concerns about the viability of the ring. resurfaced on Aug. 23 when Societe Generale said it. would drop the top-tier membership that permits floor trading.

A Reuters study showed there is still a dedication to the. ring for now by the bulk of existing ring members, backed by. miners and business that use physical metal.

There suffice people that still want an independent. cost for physical trading, stated Sucden's Bailey.

Marex Group likewise stated it would continue ring. trading, while StoneX Financial stated it had no current. plans to change its approach to the ring.

Sources with direct knowledge stated Amalgamated Metal. Trading, CCBI International Markets and GF Financial also prepared to. continue the LME floor, while Sigma Broking declined to. comment.

Ring members need to bear the extra cost of having traders both. in the office and on the LME flooring, which can cost $1 million a. year, one industry source approximated.

It's expensive to maintain, however we're still earning money. from the ring, stated an executive of a ring dealership who decreased. to be called.

SMALL PLAYER

SocGen was a relatively small gamer in the ring, and one. LME executive estimated the business represented just 6% of. open-outcry trading. An executive at an LME ring dealership said. they anticipated its ring service to be rearranged to one or. more of the remaining brokers.

Some LME members argue that electronic trading worked throughout. COVID-19 and a full shift is inescapable.

The writing is in the wall, stated a market source. The. ring is in fact irrelevant, as those rates were assembled. digitally throughout COVID and nobody noticed any difference.

But the ring still has assistance. One executive at a European. company that purchases LME metals to make its items said the. exchange should develop a more practical ring by developing more. affordable service.

Without the ring, the LME is simply another basic materials. exchange, he said.

(source: Reuters)