The new London Metal Exchange cash-settled alumina contract will help the exchange to retain its top spot as the global reference for the aluminium industry, according to LME business development analyst Antonio Masiero.
Speaking at the Fastmarkets Bauxite & Alumina Conference in Miami on Wednesday March 27, Masiero said that, while the market moves away from pricing alumina as a percentage of the LME price for aluminium, the new contract will help it to continue to provide options throughout the supply chain.The new contract was launched on March 11 and is settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark daily fob Australia alumina index, in a basket alongside price assessor CRU's alumina index. Equal weighting is given to each index.You can see the LME alumina contract specifications here."The LME is the reference globally for the aluminium industry, and we want to remain as such," Masiero said. "We know that the alumina market has been moving away from the...