The Ring
COVID-19: Ring trading is currently suspended with prices being calculated basis electronic market activity on LMEselect. Find out more
The Ring, our open-outcry trading floor, is central to the process of price discovery. The LME Official Price, LME Unofficial Price and LME Closing Price are all, or in part, discovered on the trading floor.
Ring sessions & trading times
Each LME metal is traded in highly liquid five-minute Ring sessions which are themselves representative of global supply and demand.
Trading on the Ring begins at 11.40 and closes at 17.00.
Open outcry & unique prompts
Open-outcry trading is important for the LME because of its unique prompt-date structure. There are up to 200 tradable dates per LME metal and open outcry is an efficient way of trading multiple dates.
Ring trading runs concurrently with the LME's other platforms, LMEselect and the inter-office telephone market.
Ring trading data
A comprehensive set of trading data from the Ring is available via licensed data distributors.
Futures prices from the Ring
Market users can access a wide range of price data directly from the LME's open outcry trading floor via our network of licensed data distributors.
Data includes:
- Separate bid, ask and trade prices for all futures contracts quoted outright, spread or average
- Highest bid and lowest offer prices for futures 3 month prompt dates following each ring and kerb trading session.
Daily Official and Unofficial Prices
- Daily official cash, 3 month, 15 month, 27 month, DEC1, DEC2, DEC3 prompt date prices (where applicable) for metal futures contracts following the second morning Ring trading session
- Daily official FX rates following the second morning Ring trading session
- Daily moving monthly average FX rates
- Daily unofficial prices for all contracts traded on the Ring following the second afternoon Ring trading session
- Daily official index value.
Useful links
Contact us
For further information please get in touch.