It is reported that 10 million tonnes of steel have been traded at the London Metal Exchange in YTD 2010 period (equivalent to 153,977 lots), the first time this milestone has been reached in a single calendar year.
The milestone was achieved during trading on November 16th 2010. This compares with 2.03 million tonnes (equivalent to 31,211 lots) in the whole of 2009 and 1.04 million tonnes (equivalent to 15,966 lots) traded from its launch on February 25th 2008.
Mr Chris Evans head of business development at the LME said that "This is an extremely significant milestone to pass and demonstrates the continued growth and relevance to the global steel industry of the LME's steel billet contract. It shows that peoples' need to manage risk is turning into real hedging and trading activity on the Exchange."
The LME also listed its first US steel billet brand today for delivery against the LME steel billet contract: Sterling Steel. There are now 46 brands listed from producers in 17 different countries. This latest brand addition follows the listing of the LME's first storage facilities in Detroit and Chicago on November 16th 2010, bringing all of its US locations for steel New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit.