{"id":1841,"date":"2023-02-09T12:23:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T10:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/?p=1841"},"modified":"2025-01-16T09:34:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T07:34:30","slug":"what-is-lme-london-metal-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/what-is-lme-london-metal-exchange","title":{"rendered":"What is LME or London Metal Exchange"},"content":{"rendered":" \n    <div class=\"c-post--header\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/tubos-acero-1.jpg);\">\n        <a href=\"\" class=\"c-back-action\">\n            Go back        <\/a>\n        <h1>What is LME or London Metal Exchange<\/h1>\n\t\t<p class=\"c-post--author\">\n\t\t\tAuthor:\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/author\/scrapad-admin\/\">ScrapAd<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n        <div class=\"c-post--meta\">\n            <p>09\/02\/2023<\/p>\n            <div class=\"c-post--actions\">\n                <a onclick=\"window.print()\" class=\"c-article__action\">\n                    <i class=\"large material-icons icon\">print<\/i>\n                <\/a>\n                <a data-clipboard-text=\"\" class=\"c-article__action\">\n                    <i class=\"large material-icons icon\">content_copy<\/i>\n                <\/a>\n                <span class=\"c-article__action share__trigger\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<i class=\"large material-icons icon\">share<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"share__displays\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/scrapad-blocks\/assets\/icons\/share\/facebook.svg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=&amp;url=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/scrapad-blocks\/assets\/icons\/share\/twitter.svg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&amp;url=&amp;title=&amp;summary=&amp;source=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/scrapad-blocks\/assets\/icons\/share\/linkedin.svg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"mailto:info@scrapad.com?&amp;cc=&amp;bcc=&amp;subject=&amp;body=\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttarget=\"_blank\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>\n                                <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/scrapad-blocks\/assets\/icons\/share\/email.svg\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n    \n\n \n    <section class=\"c-container \" style=\" background-color: #FBFBFB; background-size: cover; --xsPadding: 40px 25px 40px 25px; --smPadding: 40px 25px 40px 25px; --mdPadding: 80px 100px 80px 100px; --lgPadding: 80px 100px 80px 100px; --xlPadding: 80px 100px 80px 100px; --xxlPadding: 80px 200px 80px 200px;  \">\n        \n<div class=\"wp-block-scrapad-blocks-container c-post\">\n<div class=\"c-article__desc wp-block-scrapad-blocks-article-desc\">\n<p>The LME is the London Metal Exchange, a stock exchange that has the particularity of trading futures and options contracts with precious metals and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/industrial-metals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">industrial metals<\/a>. In this article we explain in depth what the LME is and how it works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large w-100\"><a href=\"https:\/\/marketplace.scrapad.com\/register\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/EN-METALES-1024x341.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10572\" srcset=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/EN-METALES-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/EN-METALES-300x100.jpg 300w, https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/EN-METALES-768x256.jpg 768w, https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/EN-METALES.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is the LME<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The London Metal Exchange\u00a0<strong>is the global hub for industrial metals trading<\/strong>. The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/scrap-metal-prices\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/scrap-metal-prices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>metal prices<\/strong><\/a><strong> used on the platforms of the London Metal Exchange serve as a global benchmark<\/strong>, guaranteeing\u00a0<strong>continuity of production<\/strong>\u00a0with all quality standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Its foundation dates back to 1877, although it actually dates back to 1571, when merchants began to meet periodically to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/metals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">buy and sell metals<\/a>. This is why its foundation serves to&nbsp;<strong>regularise the buying and selling of metals<\/strong>, which in its origins was done by exchanging the metals themselves (without the intervention of financial derivatives). Since there was no fixed price for each one, it was necessary to make transactions more professional in order to eliminate uncertainty in the agreements between merchants and traders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Moreover, as many of the metal pieces came from overseas, it was very difficult to know the exact date on which they would arrive. This is how&nbsp;<strong>futures contracts<\/strong>&nbsp;came about, so that traders did not have to take the risk that the value of the merchandise would not be what they expected. Today,&nbsp;<strong>these contracts are still in place<\/strong>, with eight metals, two plastics and an index covering the six primary metals currently traded. The&nbsp;<strong>eight LME contracts<\/strong>&nbsp;are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Grade A copper<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Primary aluminium<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Standard lead<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Primary nickel<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tin<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Special high grade zinc<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aluminium alloy<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>American Special Aluminium Alloy (NASAAC)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Types of metals on the LME<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The metal prices that are usually followed are those of the precious metals, mostly gold and to a lesser extent silver, although the LME does track the price of many other metals. The market classifies all metals into the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Non-ferrous metals<\/strong>: such as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/aluminium\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aluminium<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/copper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">copper<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/zinc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">zinc<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/nickel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nickel<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/tin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tin<\/a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/lead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lead<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ferrous metals<\/strong>:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/materials\/iron-steel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iron and steel<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Precious metals<\/strong>: such as gold and silver.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minor metals<\/strong>: cobalt and molybdenum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Functions of the London Metal Exchange<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<strong>functions of the LME<\/strong>&nbsp;include the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As its main objective, the London Metal Exchange&nbsp;<strong>should be able to provide a global forum for producers and sellers to manage the risk of future metal price movements<\/strong>, which change frequently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It should&nbsp;<strong>deposit traded materials in warehouses<\/strong>&nbsp;around the world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>To provide security and reliability to producers and sellers of metals<\/strong>&nbsp;and other areas such as machinery manufacturing or construction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To establish an objective&nbsp;<strong>representation of the amounts according to the supply and demand<\/strong>&nbsp;in the sector at a global level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the Metal Exchange works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To trade on the Metal Exchange and in the buying and selling processes,&nbsp;<strong>membership is required<\/strong>. Once this requirement is met,<strong>&nbsp;trading can be conducted in three different ways<\/strong>: in the&nbsp;<strong>ring<\/strong>, in person, online at&nbsp;<strong>LME Select<\/strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>via telephone<\/strong>. Regardless of how the meeting is conducted,&nbsp;<strong>it must result in a contract specifying the details of the agreement that has been reached<\/strong>. This increases the security of the transaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">American Metal Exchange<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The American Metal Exchange is also an&nbsp;<strong>online provider of metal industry news and metal price information for the US markets<\/strong>: steel, ferrous and non-ferrous metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The London Metal Exchange is a key venue for the metals market. In addition,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ScrapAd<\/a>, as a platform for&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">buying and selling scrap<\/a>&nbsp;and other materials, we make the transaction of these materials safe and much easier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t<\/section>\n    \n\n    <div class=\"c-container c-post--related\" style=\"background-color: #F7F5F2; --xsPadding: 40px 25px 40px 25px; --smPadding: 40px 25px 40px 25px; --mdPadding: 40px 25px 40px 25px; --lgPadding: 72px 100px 72px 100px; --xlPadding: 72px 100px 72px 100px; --xxlPadding: 72px 100px 72px 100px;\">\n        <div class=\"container\">\n            <h3 class=\"c-article__side__heading\">Other posts that may interest you\u2026<\/h3>\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"scrapad-blocks-related glide\" data-autoplay=\"4000\" data-views-desktop=\"3\" data-views-tablet=\"2\" data-views-mobile=\"1\" data-mode=\"slider\">  \n            <div class=\"container glide__track\" data-glide-el=\"track\">\n                <div class=\"row slider-mobile glide__slides\">\n                                                                         \n                            <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-6 glide__slide\">\n                                    <div class=\"c-blog__item\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/differences-between-brass-and-bronze\/\" class=\"c-blog__item--inner\">\n            <div class=\"c-blog__item__header\">\n                <div\n                    class=\"c-blog__item__image\"\n                    style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/laton-bronce.jpg;\"\n                ><\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item_body\">\n                    <h4 class=\"c-blog__item__title\">Differences between brass and bronze<\/h4>\n                    <div class=\"c-blog__item__meta\">\n                        <span class=\"c-blog__item__date\">29\/01\/2025<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__desc\">\n                    <p>In the manufacturing industry it is common to use metal alloys such as bronze and brass. Together with copper, these two metals are known as red metals because of their characteristic colour.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__footer\">\n                    <span class=\"c-blog__item__link\">Show details<\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                     \n                            <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-6 glide__slide\">\n                                    <div class=\"c-blog__item\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/high-speed-steel-hss\/\" class=\"c-blog__item--inner\">\n            <div class=\"c-blog__item__header\">\n                <div\n                    class=\"c-blog__item__image\"\n                    style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/acero-rapido-que-es.png;\"\n                ><\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item_body\">\n                    <h4 class=\"c-blog__item__title\">What is High Speed Steel or HSS<\/h4>\n                    <div class=\"c-blog__item__meta\">\n                        <span class=\"c-blog__item__date\">20\/01\/2025<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__desc\">\n                    <p>High Speed Steel (HSS) is the term used to define material for tool steels that can be used at a high machining speed (such as cutting or drilling).<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__footer\">\n                    <span class=\"c-blog__item__link\">Show details<\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                     \n                            <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-6 glide__slide\">\n                                    <div class=\"c-blog__item\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/types-of-bronze\/\" class=\"c-blog__item--inner\">\n            <div class=\"c-blog__item__header\">\n                <div\n                    class=\"c-blog__item__image\"\n                    style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/tipos-de-bronce.jpg;\"\n                ><\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item_body\">\n                    <h4 class=\"c-blog__item__title\">Types of bronze we can find<\/h4>\n                    <div class=\"c-blog__item__meta\">\n                        <span class=\"c-blog__item__date\">29\/10\/2024<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__desc\">\n                    <p>The price of iron ore continues to fall. This decline coincides with warnings from one of the world&#8217;s largest steel producers, China, warning of a crisis in the sector.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__footer\">\n                    <span class=\"c-blog__item__link\">Show details<\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                     \n                            <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-6 glide__slide\">\n                                    <div class=\"c-blog__item\">\n        <a href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/blog\/iron-prices-are-falling\/\" class=\"c-blog__item--inner\">\n            <div class=\"c-blog__item__header\">\n                <div\n                    class=\"c-blog__item__image\"\n                    style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/scrapad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/caida-precio-hierro.png;\"\n                ><\/div>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item_body\">\n                    <h4 class=\"c-blog__item__title\">Why iron prices are falling<\/h4>\n                    <div class=\"c-blog__item__meta\">\n                        <span class=\"c-blog__item__date\">21\/10\/2024<\/span>\n                    <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__desc\">\n                    <p>The price of iron ore continues to fall. This decline coincides with warnings from one of the world&#8217;s largest steel producers, China, warning of a crisis in the sector.<\/p>\n                <\/div>\n                <div class=\"c-blog__item__footer\">\n                    <span class=\"c-blog__item__link\">Show details<\/span>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n                                <\/div>\n                                                            <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div> \n    <\/div>\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The LME is the London Metal Exchange, a stock exchange that has the particularity of trading futures and options contracts with precious metals and\u00a0industrial metals. In this article we explain in depth what the LME is and how it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metals"],"acf":{"post_country":{"simple_value_formated":"<ul><li><a class=\"post-link\" href=\"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/paises\/spain\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Spain<\/a><\/li><\/ul>","value_formated":{"postIds":[2676],"postType":"paises"},"value":["2676"],"field":{"ID":0,"key":"field_64ef02d93e348","label":"Pa\u00eds","name":"post_country","aria-label":"","prefix":"acf","type":"relationship","value":null,"menu_order":0,"instructions":"","required":0,"id":"","class":"","conditional_logic":0,"parent":"group_64ef02d9ad6ee","wrapper":{"width":"","class":"","id":""},"post_type":["paises"],"post_status":["publish"],"taxonomy":"","filters":["search","post_type","taxonomy"],"return_format":"id","min":"","max":"","elements":"","_name":"post_country","_valid":1}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61441,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841\/revisions\/61441"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paises\/2676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scrapad.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}