Posted on 11 Sep 2026
The London Metal Exchange (LME) has confirmed that trading in its new LME Steel hot-rolled coil (HRC) Shanghai futures contract will commence on October 27, the bourse announced on Wednesday.
The new LME Steel HRC Shanghai futures contract will be cash-settled against the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) HRC RMB price, converted into US dollars. The necessary currency conversion and other pricing calculations will be handled by Commodity Pricing and Analysis Limited (CPAL), an LME sister company.
This contract marks the first time that the SHFE has made a metals price available for trading on another exchange, according to the announcement.
"From next month, the LME will be providing the market with a straight-forward route to accessing what is widely regarded as the global benchmark for the flat steel sector, offering ease of access for offshore participants of the LME," said MiRan Park, LME Chief Business Officer.
With an average bid offer of one tick, hundreds of lots quoted on each side and an average daily volume of almost 700,000 lots per day, the SHFE HRC contract is one of the most successful commodity contracts in the world, he added.
Zhang Ming, Executive Vice President of the SHFE, also welcomed the cooperation, saying "By licensing the settlement price of SHFE HRC futures to the LME, we aim to provide Chinese and overseas companies engaged in global HRC trade with a more direct and effective risk-management tool, while further strengthening the links between China's steel industry, the Shanghai price and global markets."
The LME also published details of a dedicated incentive programme aimed at encouraging liquidity providers to quote the LME Steel HRC Shanghai contracts on its electronic trading platform, LMEselect, focusing on the active months with the highest liquidity on the SHFE market. The programme follows constructive discussions with liquidity providers across China, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
The contract has been carefully structured to align with the liquidity profile of the underlying SHFE HRC contract and the international composition of the LME trading community, with further details set out in the notes on the LME website, according to the announcement.
Source:Mysteel Global
