LME selects Argus prices for China steel futures

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Jan 18, 2019, 00:00 ET

LONDON, Jan. 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The London Metal Exchange (LME) will launch a finished steel coil futures contract for Asia on 11 March, settled against prices produced by Argus. The new financially-settled contract for hot-rolled coil (HRC) exported from China will settle against the Argus HRC fob Tianjin China index, published in the Argus Ferrous Markets daily online service.

"We are very pleased to have been chosen as the settlement index for the LME's new Chinese steel contract," Argus Media chairman and chief executive Adrian Binks said. "Over the past several years the Chinese export market has emerged as arguably the most important of all HRC markets, and in many ways serves as the global benchmark for flat rolled steel."

"The combination of a leading exchange like the LME and a first-tier metal price reporting agency in Argus gives this new contract the best possible chance of success," he added.

The LME highlighted the importance of the new HRC fob China contract as an important part of its growth strategy.

"We are delighted to announce Argus as the index providers for our new LME Steel HRC FOB China futures contract, a next step in delivering our new products strategy and an important part of our commitment to deliver greater user choice," LME head of market development Robin Martin said. "The introduction of new contracts is a strategically important growth driver for the LME. We believe that these new cash-settled contracts will complement our existing product offering and the simpler settlement mechanism will help lower barriers to market entry. This will attract new players to the market who can benefit from using LME hedging to better manage their price risk in the physical metals market."

The Argus HRC fob Tianjin China index is one of over 400 global price assessments published in Argus Ferrous Markets, which provides pricing and market information for the steel-making raw materials and finished steel markets.

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About Argus Media

Argus is an independent media organisation with almost 950 staff. It is headquartered in London and has 21 offices in the world's principal commodity trading and production centres. Argus produces price assessments and analysis of international energy and other commodity markets, and offers bespoke consulting services and industry-leading conferences.

Companies in 140 countries around the world use Argus data to index physical trade and as benchmarks in financial derivative markets as well as for analysis and planning purposes.

Argus was founded in 1970 and is a privately held UK-registered company. It is owned by employee shareholders and global growth equity firm General Atlantic.

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