Temporary move of LME's open outcry trading hits volumes

London

THE temporary relocation of open-outcry trading at the London Metal Exchange (LME) to a disaster-recovery site due to problems at its new offices hit volumes hard during the already quiet summer months, broking sources said.

For all contracts traded on the LME, volumes fell more than 9 per cent year on year in August to 12.18 million lots, after a drop of nearly 18 per cent in July. Volumes for aluminium fell nearly 22 per cent, and copper, by seven per cent last month from the same period a year ago.