London, 27 July 2010

The London Metal Exchange ( LME) today issues an unaudited statement for trading volumes during the first six months of 2010. Total lots traded on the exchange rose 7.5% to 59,304,271 compared with the corresponding period last year while the average daily volume rose 8.1% to 478,260 lots.

Among the contracts showing the highest volume growth in 2010, copper futures and options trading grew 20.4% to 16,338,186 lots transacted in the first six months, while volumes of lead futures and options grew 30.5% to 3,826,307 lots.

• 59,304,271 lots traded in first six months of 2010 up 7.5% & year on year

• Steel trading surges 385% ahead of contract merger on 28th July 2010

Trading activity in the Exchange’s Mediterranean steel billet futures contract grew 385% to 57,606 lots ahead of the planned merger with the Far East steel billet contract due 28th July 2010.

In minor metals, trading in cobalt totalled 2,782 lots (2,782 tonnes / notional value = $112.8 million) while molybdenum saw 227 lots traded (1,362 tonnes / notional value = $50 million). Importantly several market participants cited the new contracts’ long-term appeal as global pricing benchmarks.

Martin Abbott, Chief Executive of the LME said, “In the first six months of 2010 we have handled a record amount of business and at the same time we have been investing heavily in systems and IT infrastructure so that we are primed for future growth. We have introduced the world’s first exchange-traded derivatives for minor metals in our cobalt and molybdenum contracts and we are also due to create a global benchmark for steel in merging our steel billet contracts this month. It has been a successful start to the year, but there is still much work to do. We are now looking forward to the introduction of OTC gold clearing later this year using the LMEsmart system as the gateway for trades from the OTC market into the LCH clearing system.

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