September 18, 2008

The London Metal Exchange will launch minor metals contracts in the second half of 2009 for molybdenum and cobalt. The contracts were approved for launch at the September 4th 2008 LME board meeting and will now be finalized in conjunction with market participants.

LME release said that “Once launched, the contracts will offer all the benefits of an exchange traded product, allowing participants access to a transparently derived price and the ability to manage price risk.”

MOLYBDENUM
1. Lot size: 2 tonnes gross of roasted molybdenum concentrates with a net weight of 1,190 kilos of molybdenum contained, equivalent to 59.5% molybdenum contained
2. Tolerance level: 2.5 percentage points, enabling concentrates with molybdenum content between 57% and 62% to be delivered
3. Impurities set at: copper 0.5% max, sulphur 0.1% max, phosphorous 0.05%
4. Delivery points: Rotterdam, Baltimore and Busan, Korea initially
5. Tick size: USD 0.05 per kilogram
6. Trading venue: telephone, Select, Ring (shared with cobalt at 12.25 daily and in kerb)
7. Daily prompts to 3M, weekly to 6M, monthly to 15M initially