London, United Kingdom
Abbreviation
LME
Location
London, United Kingdom
Region
Europe
Group
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
Product Types
Industrial Metals, Ferrous Metals, Precious Metals
The London Metal Exchange (LME) is the world's largest market for standardised forward contracts, futures, and options on base and industrial metals. Founded in 1877 and based in London, the LME offers contracts for aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, tin, cobalt, steel, and other metals, providing globally referenced benchmark prices. The LME is the last exchange in Europe to use open-outcry ring trading alongside its electronic platform. It was acquired by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) in 2012.
The London Commodity Exchange (LCE) was a major agricultural commodity exchange in London, trading futures for cocoa, coffee, sugar, grain, and other soft commodities. Founded in the 1950s, the LCE merged with the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE) in 1996. Its agricultural contracts continue to be traded today on the ICE Futures Europe platform.
Eurex Exchange, founded in 1998 and owned by Deutsche Börse Group, is one of the world's largest derivatives exchanges. While primarily known for interest rate, equity, and index derivatives, Eurex's commodity segment offers exchange-traded commodity products including agricultural futures, metals, and commodity index derivatives. Eurex operates electronic trading for over 2,000 products and provides clearing and settlement through Eurex Clearing, one of Europe's largest central counterparties. Eurex is co-headquartered in Frankfurt and Zurich.
Nord Pool is Europe's largest power market by volume, facilitating day-ahead and intraday electricity trading across the Nordic, Baltic, Central Western European, and UK markets. Founded in 1993 as the world's first multi-national electricity exchange between Norway and Sweden, Nord Pool now operates across 17 European countries and serves over 400 trading members. Nord Pool is owned by Euronext and provides the primary benchmark for European electricity pricing, including the system prices for the Nord Pool Spot market.
The Integrated Nano-Science & Commodity Exchange (INSCX) is the world's first regulated exchange dedicated to nanomaterials and nanotechnology-related commodities, founded in the UK in 2010. INSCX provides standardised trading, pricing, and exchange infrastructure for graphene, carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, nano-metals, and other engineered nanomaterials. By creating a regulated marketplace for nanomaterials, INSCX aims to bring transparency, safety standards, and commodity-style liquidity to the emerging nanotechnology supply chain. The exchange is unique globally in this specialised nano-commodity focus.