LME, SHFE and SMM are three famous institutions in nonferrous metals industry, among which SHFE is called Shanghai Futures Exchange and SMM is called Shanghai Metal Market.

International membership system

LME adopts international membership system, and more than 95% of its transactions come from overseas markets. Trading varieties include copper, aluminum, lead, zinc, nickel and aluminum alloy. The trading mode of the exchange is open outcry trading, which is carried out in the "market", also known as "floor trading", and its operation is supported by the 24-hour telephone order market and LME selection screen trading system. LME publishes a series of official prices every day, which are used as the pricing basis of spot metal contracts in the operation.