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London Metal Exchange - Three-Month Futures

We also offer the following 3-month metals futures on the London Metals Exchange (LME), dealable exclusively by phone.

London Metal Exchange: Times of Rings and Kerbs

On the LME, a Ring is a five-minute period during which one specified metal is traded on the floor of the exchange.

The Official Kerbs are the specified times during which, after the morning and afternoon Rings have finished, several or all of the metals are traded simultaneously on the floor of the exchange.

A screen-based trading system operates alongside the floor-based trading. While spreads may be tighter and the markets more liquid during the Ring, it is normally possible to deal any metal whether it is in the Ring or not.

The LME has an important peculiarity. The main quoted price for all LME metals is the so-called 3-month price, a price for metal to be delivered on a particular date in roughly ninety days’ time. The 3-month price quoted on, say, 3 July, and the 3-month price quoted on, say, 17 July, a couple of weeks later, are thus prices for different settlement and delivery dates. (This is in contrast to the situation in other commodity futures markets; ‘March Cocoa’, for example, has the same settlement date whether you deal in December or in February.)

This peculiarity has an important practical consequence when you bet on LME metals with IG Index. Say, for example, you ‘buy’ 3-month copper. A week later the price rises and you decide to take your profit. You cannot close your position simply by ‘selling’ 3-month copper, because the 3-month date is now a different day. Instead you have to ‘sell’ copper for the same date for which you ‘bought’ it. The price for this date is not normally the same as the current 3-month price. It may be lower, if the market is in ‘contango’, or higher, if the market is in ‘backwardation’. When metal is in short supply, backwardations can sometimes be very large. So you should be aware that it is possible to lose money on an LME bet even if the 3-month price has moved in your favour, or make money even if the 3-month price has moved against you.

Find here additional information applying to the bet details information tables. Where you see a number or letter in brackets on the tables, the corresponding note can be found below.

1) Daily Bets expire without spread, if the Daily Autoroll flag is not set. All other bets expire plus or minus half the IG Index spread as follows:
  a) Brent Crude Oil based upon the ICE Brent Index price for the day following the IG Index last dealing day.
  b) Cocoa (London), Coffee Robusta, White Sugar No.5 and London Wheat base the closing bid/offer of the relevant contract on LIFFE on the IG Index last dealing day.
  c) Aluminium, Copper, Lead, Nickel, Tin and Zinc base the settlement price of the relevant metal on LME on the IG Index last dealing day.
  d) Cocoa (US), Coffee Arabica, Orange Juice, Sugar No.11, Cotton, and US Dollar Basket base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on NYBOT on the IG Index last dealing day.
  e) Light Crude Oil, Heating Oil, Natural Gas, Unleaded Gasoline, Gold futures, Palladium, Platinum, Silver and High Grade Copper base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on NYMEX on the IG Index last dealing day.
  f ) Corn, Oats, Soyabeans, Soyabean Meal, Soyabean Oil, Wheat and Rough Rice base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on CBOT on the IG Index last dealing day.
  g) Gas Oil and Carbon Emissions base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on ICE on the IG Index last dealing day.
  h) Live and Feeder Cattle, Lean Hogs, Pork Bellies and Lumber base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on CME on the IG Index last dealing day.
  j) Gold futures expire on the fourth business day prior to the first day of the contract month (or previous day if such a day is a Friday and is immediately prior to a US holiday).
  k) Milling Wheat and Rapeseed base the closing price of the relevant futures contract on Euronext on the IG Index last dealing day.

2) A system of 'calls' operates at the beginning and/or end of each session. At such times, you will only be able to get a quotation for the particular month being traded at any given moment.

3) Any market spread will be added to the spread shown in the Information Table.

4) Exact LME Ring trading times for each individual metal are given on the 'Metals' tab. We quote Spot Metals 24 hours a day, normally from 23.00 (London time) on Sunday until 22.00 (London time) on Friday.

5) It may not be possible to obtain quotes for all months listed because of a lack of market liquidity in some months.

6) The last dealing day shown here will not always coincide with the last dealing day of any relevant analogous exchange-traded futures contract. This is because contracts can become illiquid as they approach expiry and market spreads can widen considerably.

7) Spreads are subject to variation, especially in volatile market conditions.

8) Normal closing time for the Spot Gold and Spot Silver markets is 22.00, and normal closing time for Brent Crude and US Light Crude markets at 19.30. Bets left open at the closing time will be closed at the relevant official Spot settlement price, as published on Bloomberg (E&OE), plus or minus half the IG Index spread.

9) Rollovers: Spot Gold and Silver, and Daily Light and Brent Crude bets can be rolled over provided we receive your instruction at least 15 minutes before market closing time, or if the Daily Autoroll flag has been set.
  a) Spot Metal: When a Spot metal bet is rolled over, the open bet expires at the middle of our price and a new bet is automatically opened for the next trading day at the same price plus a rollover adjustment. The rollover adjustment comprises two parts:
    i) a market interest adjustment based on US interest rates.
    ii) a rollover charge of 0.0055% of the closing price x stake/bet size.
For weekend rolls, you will be charged interest for the three day period, but the rollover charge will only be applied once.
  b) Daily Light and Brent Crude: When Daily Light and Brent Crude are rolled over, the position is closed basis the middle of our price at 19.30 and reopened with a charge of 1 point for Non-Controlled Risk bets and 2 points for Controlled Risk bets.
  c) Futures: when Commodity Futures are rolled, normal bets are closed at the middle of our price, plus or minus half the normal IG Index spread, and are reopened at the middle of our price, plus or minus half IG Index spread with a 40% concession applied. Controlled Risk bets on Commodity Futures are closed at the middle of our price, plus or minus half the normal IG Index spread, and are reopened at the middle of our price, plus or minus half IG Index spread with a 40% concession applied, and plus or minus the Controlled Risk premium. (N.B. For most commodity future rolls, the middle of our closing and re-opening prices will be based upon the prior day’s market settlement price for the relevant contracts).
  d) Stops and Limits: If you have a Stop or a Limit order on a Spot position when it is rolled over, we will, unless instructed otherwise, place the Stop on the new bet at the same level as the Stop on the expiring bet. If you have Stops or Limits on a Futures bet when it is rolled over, we will, unless otherwise instructed, place the Stop or Limit on the new bet at the same level, but adjusted for fair value. For example, if the price of the new contract is 20 points higher than the expiring contract, your Stop or Limit would be rolled forward at your existing level plus 20 points. This applies to both guaranteed and non-guaranteed Stops and Limits.

10) On certain markets, different deposit rates apply depending on the type of account you hold. Where there are two deposit factors listed, the lower figure applies to the Plus Account and the higher figure to the Select Account. Please note that Tiered Deposits apply; this means that higher deposits may be required for large positions. Please see our Tiered Deposits page for details.