LME Trading Halt Hits Metals Markets During Peak Pricing Window

Trading across the London Metal Exchange (LME) was abruptly halted on Monday (March 16) after a technical failure froze electronic activity in key industrial markets.

The outage, which began at around 2:44 p.m. GMT, disrupted pricing and affected all electronic contracts on the exchange, including copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel and tin. It struck just ahead of the LME’s daily pricing window, when benchmark closing prices are calculated for global metals markets.

Dealers were unable to place orders as the LME worked to restore functionality.

“We are aware of an issue and working to resolve it as soon as possible,” an exchange spokesperson said.

With normal trading impaired, the exchange said it would rely on its backup “waterfall” methodology to determine official prices and declared a pricing disruption event. Although the inter-office market remained open, the outage limited participants’ ability to hedge positions at official prices.

The LME later restored trading using a secondary system. Electronic trading resumed in the early evening.

Despite the resumption, the timing amplified the impact of the interruption.

Metals markets are already under strain from supply disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route.

Aluminum has been among the hardest hit. Prices have surged this year, climbing roughly 13 percent and recently approaching their highest levels in nearly four years. Supply constraints have intensified after production cuts in the Gulf region, where smelters depend on steady energy and shipping flows.

Aluminium Bahrain (LSE:78QZ) has reduced output by about 19 percent due to shipping bottlenecks, while Qatar’s Qatalum has reportedly cut production to around 60 percent following gas supply disruptions.

The zinc and copper markets have also seen increased volatility. Before the outage, copper was up about 0.6 percent, while aluminum had fallen 1.3 percent in intraday trading.

The incident also follows a string of recent disruptions across major exchanges.

The LME delayed trading earlier this year due to a separate technical issue, while CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) experienced a prolonged outage in November that affected multiple asset classes.

CME also halted trading on its Globex metals market last month, citing "technical" issues.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.