Fastmarkets reporters present 12 key things we learned at LME Asia Week 2019 in Hong Kong during May 6-9.
1. LME is in talks with Guangdong local authority to establish warehouses in China Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX), said the London Metals Exchange is in talks with the Guangdong government to pilot establishing LME warehouses in mainland China. Li hopes the move can be sped up given China's newly blueprinted Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area program plan. Chinese policymakers plan to develop the area made up of nine mainland cities and two special administrative regions into a technology and innovation hub. Last year before LME Asia Week 2018, Li told Fastmarkets in an exclusive interview that opening LME warehouses in China remained a "top priority" but HKEX was not "aggressively pushing for it." LME has struggled to establish warehouses in China for seven years. According to conference delegates, the main reason why Chinese authorities have not given the LME permission to set...