LME Steel HRC Shanghai will start trading in October 2026, pending final regulatory non-objection, after the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange signed an agreement for the new contract.
The new futures product will be cash-settled. It will track the SHFE Steel Hot-Rolled Coil monthly U.S. dollar price. In addition, Commodity Pricing and Analysis Limited will handle the currency conversions and pricing work. The company is a sister company of the LME.
The exchanges said the contract will give international market participants direct exposure to China’s flat steel market for the first time. Until now, non-Chinese entities faced structural limits in accessing that market.
LME Steel HRC Shanghai Expands Access
China is the world’s largest steel producer and consumer, according to the source article. Meanwhile, the SHFE’s HRC contract ranks among the most liquid commodity futures contracts. The new listing therefore links overseas participants to a market that had been hard to reach.
LME Chairman John Williamson said the contract would offer firms outside China easier access to a highly liquid commodity contract. He added that users would also get the ease of trading a cash-settled LME product. Williamson also said the move would deepen the exchange’s links with Chinese metals markets.
SHFE Sees Broader Global Role
SHFE Chairman Tian Xiangyang said the agreement would draw more global steel companies and financial institutions into price formation. He added that the step would raise the international standing of China’s steel futures market.
The new contract also expands the LME’s range of cash-settled steel products. Moreover, the agreement marks a concrete move toward bringing Chinese commodity benchmarks into global capital markets infrastructure.
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