LME'S OTC TRADING PLAN MUST COMPETE ON COSTS - BUT SCEPTICS ABOUND

摘要

Cutting the cost of trading for the minor metals industry is the key to making the London Metal Exchange's proposed over-the-counter (OTC) trading platform attractive to new users, market participants told MB. Traders of metals such as cobalt typically face costs for finance, credit insurance and warehousing that can run to as much as 10 percent on an annualised basis. If the LME can undercut these charges, it could be in with a chance of persuading businesses to switch to its new platform, minor metal traders said. "It's essentially a new way of obtaining structured finance," said a UK cobalt trader.