The London Metal Exchange is set to propose permanently shutting its Ring, where metals have been traded since its founding in 1877, a move that would mark the end of in-person trading of commodities in Europe.
The exchange’s decision, which a person familiar with the matter said would be formally announced later on Tuesday, comes after it temporarily halted trading in the Ring last year because of the pandemic.
If the LME’s members agree to its closure, it would mark the end of an era for the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing-owned exchange. The red sofa Ring is the last open-outcry trading venue in Europe and began when metals merchants would draw a circle on the sawdust floor of a City of London coffee house in the 19th century.