SFST welcomes London Metal Exchange's approval of first batch of approved warehouses in Hong Kong

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The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, welcomed today (April 15) the approval by the London Metal Exchange (LME), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, of the first three applications to establish approved warehouses in Hong Kong. These applications involve four warehouse facilities. He said that the decision will further promote the development of Hong Kong's commodity market and strengthen its position as an international financial, shipping and trading centre.

Mr Hui said, "The LME included Hong Kong as an approved delivery point within its global warehousing network in January this year, and began accepting applications from warehouse operators to become approved storage entities of LME-registered brands of metals. The approval of the first batch of applications in merely a few months indicated the efforts of the Government and the industry in exploring new growth areas, and allowed LME-approved warehouse operators and local warehouse operators to begin the process of establishing operations early."
　　　　　
He added, "In his 2024 Policy Address, the Chief Executive emphasised the need to explore new growth areas, and the establishment of a commodity trading ecosystem is a new growth point to consolidate and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre. The establishment of LME-approved warehouses in Hong Kong will provide convenient, cost-effective and safe delivery channels for metals trading in the region. This will not only attract relevant enterprises to establish a presence in Hong Kong, turning our city into an operation centre for international commodity trading, storage and delivery, shipping and logistics, risk management, but also promote the development of related financial transactions such as futures, thereby injecting new impetus into consolidating Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre. I hope the approved warehouses will commence operations as soon as possible, and I look forward to seeing more successful cases of approval for operators to become approved warehouses to foster the growth of local commodity trading-related services."

The Government understands that other operators are applying to become approved warehouses of the LME. Relevant bureaux and departments will continue to maintain communication with relevant industry players and provide assistance on technical matters as appropriate.

Ends/Tuesday, April 15, 2025
Issued at HKT 16:50

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