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Enron Mail |
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Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Enron Media Cuttings <Enron Media Cuttings@ECT< X-To: Jackie Gentle <Jackie Gentle/LON/ECT@ECT<, Louise Kitchen <Louise Kitchen/HOU/ECT@ECT<, John Sherriff <John Sherriff/ENRON@EUEnronXGate<, Mark Palmer <Mark Palmer/Corp/Enron@ENRON<, Joe Gold <Joe Gold/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Amita Gosalia <Amita Gosalia/LON/ECT@ECT<, Marcello Romano <Marcello Romano/Enron Communications@Enron Communications<, Rahil Jafry <Rahil Jafry/Enron@EnronXGate<, Richard Lewis <Richard Lewis/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, David Forster <David Forster/Enron@EnronXGate<, Michael Brown <Michael Brown/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Angela Connelly <Angela Connelly/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, David Leboe <David Leboe/Enron@EnronXGate<, Paul Goddard <Paul Goddard/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Kal Shah <Kal Shah/Enron@EnronXGate<, Dave Samuels <Dave Samuels/Enron@EnronXGate<, Julie Green <Julie Green/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Bruce Garner <Bruce Garner/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Alex Parsons <Alex Parsons/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Richard Shapiro <Richard Shapiro/NA/Enron@Enron<, EOL Marketing Europe <EOL Marketing Europe@ECT<, Enron London - EOL Product Control Group <Enron London - EOL Product Control Group/LON/ECT@ECT<, Justin Boyd <Justin Boyd/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Eric Gadd <Eric Gadd/ET&S/Enron@Enron<, Christopher Mckey <Christopher Mckey/ENRON@EUEnronXGate<, Joe Gold <Joe Gold/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Fiona Grant <Fiona Grant/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Julie Green <Julie Green/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Tom McKeever <Tom McKeever/ENRON@EUEnronXGate<, Mike Farmer <Mike Farmer/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Michael Hutchinson <Michael Hutchinson/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Alex Heath <Alex Heath/ENRON@EUEnronXGate<, Molly Hellerman <Molly Hellerman/Enron@EUEnronXGate<, Jonathan Marsh <Jonathan Marsh/Enron@EUEnronXGate< X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \ExMerge - Kitchen, Louise\'Americas\Press X-Origin: KITCHEN-L X-FileName: louise kitchen 2-7-02.pst UK: LME turnovers fall, long-established trend halted. 07/03/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) - First-half volumes on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell nearly 16 percent from year-ago levels amid signs that years of rising turnover on the world's largest non-ferrous metals market may be coming to an end. Traders said this year had seen volumes affected by the general downturn in global economies, weakening prices and the knock-on impact of electronic screen trading. "The problem is the general conditions that are prevailing at the moment - we are seeing recessionary signs that are dampening the market. It is cyclical, and that is the worry because the cycle is lasting some time," one said. Figures released on Tuesday by the LME showed that total futures and options turnover during Jan/June 2001 fell to 29.899 million lots, down from a Jan/June 2000 level of 35.440 million. Traded options turnovers were significantly lower, falling to 1.481 million lots from 2.784 million as reduced volatility deterred options interest. Although the LME derives much of its liquidity from speculators, the bulk of its trade comes from the metals industry - hedging and price protection. "There is consumer and producer business around, but they are very selective at the moment," another trader said. Whether the trend continued throughout the year amd marked a sea-change after some 10 years of almost uninterrupted volume growth may depend on market conditions improving. Most of this year has seen prices progressively weaker, with copper recently at its lowest since July 1999, zinc and tin at levels last seen nearly eight years ago, lead at a 12-month low-point and nickel and aluminium at two-month lows. Although prices have been softer, there have been occasions when tightness has prevailed in some markets, lifting spot premiums, but these do not generate trades. "These squeezes that have taken place this year in copper, aluminium and tin in particular have not helped," the second trader said. When the market moves from contango, when nearby prices are cheaper than forward, into backwardation, which is the opposite, hedging dries up. The last year has also seen electronic trading take off, with competitors such as Enron Online and Spectron Metals grabbing business. The LME has also sanctioned and launched its own system - known as LME Select. These still trade LME contracts, so the turnovers are not directly hit, but screen-trading itself may be a factor. "In some ways the screens, whoever they belong to, may be the problem," one said. "In the old days, you used to talk to people more, get a feel for the market, and take a punt. Not so much now - the big boys still chat, but not as much, and with the screens it is almost a 'matched bargain' situation," he said. Folder Name: Enron Reuters folder Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 83 ______________________________________________________________________ To review or revise your folder, visit http://www.djinteractive.com or contact Dow Jones Customer Service by e-mail at custom.news@bis.dowjones.com or by phone at 800-369-7466. (Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 609-452-1511 or contact your local sales representative.) ______________________________________________________________________ Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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