Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and the London Metal Exchange (LME) will hold the first LME Week Asia in Hong Kong in the week of 24 June this year.
Just one year after HKEx’s announcement of its offer for the LME last June, the metals exchange is now part of HKEx and an Asia commodities team has been established to explore opportunities in the region. With the theme of “Exploring New Horizons”, the LME Week Asia 2013 is expected to attract hundreds of leading metals market participants from around the world to Hong Kong to discuss the latest industry developments, trends and opportunities within Asia and, in particular, Mainland China.
Activities of the first LME Week Asia in Hong Kong will include a reception, the LME Metals Seminar Asia, an exhibition with booths set up by industry participants, a luncheon, the LME Asia dinner and practical workshops on managing metal risk.
The LME Metals Seminar Asia and LME Asia dinner will take place on 25 June at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets for the seminar and tables at the LME Asia Dinner have been sold out. HKEx is expecting more than 400 seminar participants and about 900 guests at the dinner.
Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, will deliver the opening address at the seminar. HKEx Chief Executive Charles Li will speak on the future development of the commodities business in Asia and there will be discussions of Asia’s economic development, growth in Asia’s metals trade and China’s influence in the metals market by panels of bankers, economists and commodities experts as well as representatives of companies in the metals industry. HKEx’s Co-head of Global Markets and LME Chief Executive Martin Abbott will deliver closing remarks to conclude the seminar.
“LME Week Asia 2013 marks the beginning of a new era for HKEx and LME. We hope it will become a major annual event for the metals community to build business relationships, to identify new opportunities and to explore new horizons,” said Mr Li.
“We’re extremely excited to be bringing LME Week Asia to Hong Kong for the first time, and are thrilled with the response,” he added.
Further details of LME Week Asia 2013 are available on the HKEx Group website.
LME Week Asia is the Asian edition of LME Week, which is an important fixture in the global metals industry calendar that is held in London every October. During the week, thousands of practitioners of the mining and metals industry get together and the LME stages its annual Metals Seminar and hosts the LME Dinner, which is by invitation only. In addition, the LME membership and other metals industry organisations often organise their own events throughout the week.
About the London Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange, a member of HKEx Group, is the world centre for industrial metals trading.
More than 80% of global non-ferrous metals business is conducted on our three trading platforms: LMEselect (electronic), the Ring (open outcry) and the 24-hour telephone market. The world’s metal community uses the LME to trade futures, options, and our latest contract, LMEswaps, to hedge against adverse price movements – prices which are discovered on our markets and used as the global benchmark.
Participants can trade aluminium, copper, tin, nickel, zinc, lead, molybdenum, cobalt, steel billet and two regional aluminium alloy contracts. In 2012, 159.7 million lots were traded on the LME, the equivalent of 3.7 billion tonnes and $14.5 trillion in notional value.
At the close of the year, 7.5 million tonnes of material was held on LME warrant in 765 storage facilities across 36 locations internationally.
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