The consequences of the collapse of nickel trading on the London Metal Exchange (lme) in 2022, including potential challenges to its nickel contracts and the fate of the exchange itself, will be a hot topic for the metals industry in London next week, the foreign media said on 6 October.
The 145-year-old exchange was thrown into crisis on 8 March last year when it was forced to halt nickel trading for the first time since 1988, when the price of nickel more than doubled in the space of a few hours to a record level of more than $100,000 a tonne.
Trading volumes and liquidity plummeted after the end of trading as many users concerned about increased volatility abandoned the LME's nickel contracts and began looking for alternatives.
So far, there are no real alternatives. The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) offers nickel contracts on its domestic exchange, but trading nickel contracts is difficult for foreigners who need to be associated with a Chinese entity.
But the Shanghai Futures Exchange is currently studying the possibility of launching nickel futures in the international market, while the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group) is working on a contract that would be settled at a price collected by a platform soon to be launched by U.K.-based Global Commodities Holdings.
[Source - CJNN].
