LME introduces steel futures

Print this page Posted on : 02-26-2008 by recycleinme.com

The London Metal Exchange, the world's largest marketplace for copper and aluminium, began trading in steel futures on Monday, seeking to expand into a market that's about four times the size of aluminium. Steel prices have surged 30 per cent in the past three months, according to Macquarie, Australia's largest securities firm, driven by shortages of raw materials including coking coal and iron ore. China, the world's largest producer of the metal, expanded production by 16 per cent last year. The first transaction occurred just before 9 a.m., when the August contract for delivery to the Mediterranean traded at $750 a tonne, in three lots of 65 tonnes each.

Source : Business Line