The trading volume of the London Metal Exchange (LME), under the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388.HK), soared by 27% in the second quarter, reaching its highest level in ten years, benefiting from a substantial increase in trading volume of nickel futures contracts.

In March 2022, a cornering incident occurred in the nickel futures market, causing LME to cancel a total of 12 billion US dollars in trades, and trading subsequently became quiet. However, LME stated that the daily average trading volume in the first half of the year increased by 76% compared to the same period last year, and the open interest in the nickel market increased by about twice.