Metalshub collaboration | London Metal Exchange

The LME is pleased to be collaborating with Metalshub, working together to bring digital tools and the benefits of platform-based price discovery to the increasingly complex world of metals trading.

Metalshub is a leading provider of software for managing the physical buying and selling of raw materials. Customers use Metalshub’s solutions to streamline their purchases, sales and trading activity for ferrous, non-ferrous and minor metals, as well as scrap.

Our shared ambition is to help drive increased operational efficiency, improve pricing transparency and support sustainability for base metals.

Who is the Metalshub platform for?

Broadly speaking, the Metalshub platform is for anyone who needs to procure, sell or trade metal. It provides producers, consumers and merchants with a transparent, easy-to-use way of buying and selling metal, underpinned by reliable transaction-based price discovery

The platform also offers a host of additional features which provide analytics, the ability to manage counterparties, and access to the latest price data and news.

As a supply chain solution, Metalshub is distinct from a futures market, since it is designed to facilitate the physical transaction of materials, rather than to manage price risk as is the case with the LME’s core derivatives market.

Bringing the benefits of platform-based price discovery to the market

Raw materials worth billions of dollars are traded every year on Metalshub. Based on this trading activity, the platform already successfully discovers a number of prices for ferroalloys and metals, including a nickel briquette premium index. The nickel briquette premium index is a good example of the extensive work the LME and Metalshub have carried out with the market on qualifying different grades of nickel.

Another example is the lithium market where key market players take advantage of Metalshub’s platform-based price discovery.

You can find out more about the advantages of platform-based price discovery in our LME Insight article:

LME and Metalshub: Developing trusted commodity spot reference prices

Access to low-carbon nickel data

Nickel volume traded on the Metalshub platform continues to grow with more than $220m of class 1 nickel transacted in 2023. Metalshub already uses transactions to calculate a weekly European Duty Paid Nickel Briquette Premium Index. Market participants can also use Metalshub to buy and sell nickel sulphate, ferronickel and other types of class 2 nickel. Any class 1 nickel on the Metalshub platform can be listed with specific ESG credentials, including its carbon footprint, which allows buyers to incorporate this information into their buying decisions ensuring they source material that fits with their ESG strategy.

To provide the market with additional transparency, Metalshub shares monthly data on the number of transactions and market value of class 1 nickel traded, including the subset with a registered carbon footprint lower than 20t of CO2 equivalent per tonne of output. Once a sufficient number of regular transactions take place, Metalshub will begin publishing a Low Carbon Nickel Class 1 Premium Index (European Duty Paid).

Read more from Metalshub on class 1 nickel trading on their platform:

Steady volumes of Class 1 Nickel traded on Metalshub

Metalshub and Wyloo announce partnership for low carbon nickel

In another exciting development in our collaboration with Metalshub, Wyloo has announced its intention to use Metalshub to sell its low-carbon nickel products. This represents another step towards producing robust sustainability premium pricing.

Sustainability drive

The Metalshub collaboration is part of the LME’s sustainability strategy, which includes bringing greater transparency to the physical market through digitalisation as well as better access to sustainable products.

There is tangible interest from corporates to use Metalshub as a platform for the discovery of low carbon price premiums. We are working together to facilitate this enhanced pricing visibility and will keep the market updated on developments in this area.