It’s not the first time the 145-year-old London Metal Exchange (LME) has found itself in crisis. There was the Tin Crisis of 1986, the Nickel Crisis of 1988, and what at the time was dubbed “The Sumitomo Scandal” but could now better be described as The 1996 Copper Crisis.
This year, however, is still something of a stand-out with not one but two tsunamis rocking the grand old dame of industrial metals trading. March brought Nickel Crisis II, a much scarier update of the original, and now we have the unfolding Russian Metal Crisis.
Trading volumes have been sliding sharply since the nickel blow-out and there’s lingering uncertainty as to the future of the exchange’s iconic open outcry trading ring. As metal traders gather for the annual LME Week festivities in London, it’s likely to be the state of the exchange as much as the markets that dominates the agenda.
Turbulent times
The LME’s near breakdown in March mirrors the chaos that has been playing out in physical metal supply chains.
For the rest of this article: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/london-metal-exchange-week-cocktails-canaps-crises-2022-10-21/