Introduction to the London Metal Exchange

Course Overview

This course is delivered over 1 full day in a virtual setting.

Learning about the London Metal Exchange (LME)

This course offers a solid introduction to the services provided by the London Metal Exchange. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how the LME operates and the mechanisms through which risk can be mitigated.


What will you learn? 

  • Become familiar with the LME’s prompt date structure and trading procedures

  • Gain a full understanding of the LME’s market terminology

  • Understand the benefits of the delivery process used by the LME

  • Gain an understanding of the benefits of clearing and the role of LME Clear

  • Learn how to access the LME through member firms and the role of a broker

  • How commodity companies globally utilize the LME to manage their price risk

Course Details

Location
Virtual

Dates
22 September 2025 (1 full day)

8AM EST

Price
$1,200

Course Highlights

  • History, background and role of the LME

  • Ring and electronic trading

  • LME futures, monthly averages and option contracts

  • LME prices and prompt dates

  • The role of an LME broker/dealer

  • Warehousing and fundamentals of delivery

  • Clearing and LME Clear

  • Regulation of the LME

  • LME physically settled futures

  • LME cash-settled futures

Trainer Biography

Samuel has over 15 years of experience in the commodities industry.

He began his career at Trafigura in Switzerland where he gained experience as a physical operator before being promoted to the deals (hedging) desk. In this role, he mitigated the outright price, arbitrage (CME/LME), and spread risks for the North and South American refined and concentrates markets across all base metals and FX exposures.

At 24, Samuel became one of the youngest physical traders in Trafigura’s history. During this time, he built out and traded the refined lead and zinc books for the domestic US market, increasing the book size by 500% by building a portfolio of over 300,000mt/annum.

In 2019, Samuel joined Greenwich Metals Inc (GMI), where he built the derivatives desk from the ground up. He provided an internal brokerage to hedge GMI's physical positions, mitigating the group’s risk across refined base metals, scrap metals, concentrates, precious metals, and FX. He built a successful proprietary trading book taking speculative positions across base metals on both the LME and CME exchanges, FX, and precious metals. He combined his fundamental knowledge with quantitative, systematic trading to develop long and short-term strategies that generated significant returns. While at GMI, he was on the risk committee and held company-wide seminars on managing risk across various futures exchanges and products.

In 2023, Samuel took his 15 years of trading knowledge and created Perfectly Hedged LLC. Perfectly Hedged is a consultancy and training firm that simplifies and explains hedging; a misunderstood subject often viewed as highly technical and the cause of avoidable, costly mistakes.

Samuel authored the book, "Perfectly Hedged A Practical Guide To Base Metals", a comprehensive look at hedging in commodity firms. It is targeted to middle and back-office staff and utilizes real-world scenarios that employees will encounter daily.

With hands-on knowledge of middle and back-office functions, he is well-equipped to address industry challenges and opportunities.

Samuel holds a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Loughborough, UK.