As of 17 March 2010, the London Metal Exchange (LME) began trading in cobalt and molybdenum, commodities used in everything from jet engines to stainless steel. The 133-year-old exchange offered futures on the metals on its floor starting at 12:20pm local time. Codelco, the world’s second-largest molybdenum producer, wants to support the molybdenum contract, according to Gonzalo Cuadra, a Codelco managing director. The LME is expanding into so-called minor metals as it opens a first overseas office in Singapore and proposes a venture with the London-based Baltic Exchange to bring trading of freight derivatives onto a new exchange. One of the key uses of molybdenum is to increase corrosion resistance of stainless steel and special alloys typically 316,317L, 254SMO, 654SMO and duplex stainless steels.
