M is for …

If last week’s London Metal Exchange courses in London were an episode of Sesame Street, “M” would have been the featured letter.  We had delegates from Mexico and Malaysia, representatives of Marex, McKinsey and Microgen, and Melvin, Mario and Myooresh.

The big advantage of attending these courses in London is the visit to the LME to watch the open outcry kerb trading session at the end of the first day.  It’s always popular, and an exciting close on zinc left us all glad that we were not having to deal with the pressure of getting orders through to the dealer before the bell.

“Excellent overview of how the market operates. Definitely will be useful going forward.”
Trayport

“Everything was explained and presented brilliantly”
Marex Spectron

“Trainer was very good, patient, enthusiastic and always willing to answer/clarify points”
Microgen

The next course in New York (13-15 June) is almost full and the next London course (12-14 September) is already filling up.  Make sure you don’t miss out on a place.  Check out Upcoming Courses for a full schedule of dates and links to book your place.

Mountain Climbing in Dubai

The large group of attendees at the recent London Metal Exchange courses in Dubai, delivered in partnership with Euromoney Learning Solutions, did not realise they had signed up to a mountaineering expedition.

The first day was a brisk march through the foothills discussing the general functions of the LME.  On the second day, while exploring the futures contracts, several noted the steeper incline, but the pacing of the course ensured everybody made it comfortably to the top of the first peak – Futures Mountain.  Most were out of breath on the final day, but everybody made it to the summit of the highest peak – Options Mountain – and could enjoy the view from the summit.  

One or two even managed to scale the more challenging aspects of delta hedging and volatility surfaces.  During rest breaks, several real life situations were discussed and brought into the course as worked case studies.  By the end, we were all tired but the sense of achievement was palpable.

“Excellent course with overall information on LME instruments and dealing”
Kuwait Aluminium Extrusion Company

“All three days were valued separately in equal way”
Kibar Holding

“Trainer is a very good communicator – a seasoned educator”
Middle East Specialised Cables

Training resumes in London on 23-25 May, and is followed by New York on 13-15 June.  Check out Upcoming Courses for dates later in the year.

Singapore Sundowner

Miners and warehouses dominated the recent London Metal Exchange courses in Singapore, delivered in partnership with Euromoney Learning Solutions.   The warehouses added extra depth to the physical delivery, warrants and warehousing sections, and the miners compared the relative ease of hedging metal price risk to the more challenging aspects of hedging bulks such as iron ore and coal.  At the course conclusion, the group moved on to a nearby wine bar as a prelude to the parties during LME Week Asia in Hong Kong.

 “Very well structured and presented course.  Well timed, allowing for questions and discussions without feeling rushed”  South32

“Informative and enriching”  Access World

“Good introduction.  Less need to know about financial products like futures, options beforehand.  Good focus on warehousing”  Societe Generale

Check out Upcoming Courses for course dates in other locations.

And they’re off …

2017 got off to a great start with full complement of attendees at the first of the London Metal Exchange courses, delivered in partnership with Euromoney Learning Solutions.

As always, there was broad participation from right across the metals industry, complemented by financial firms, and service companies.  The growing trading in LME steel products was reflected by a high proportion of delegates from the steel industry, and the eagerly anticipated June launch of LMEprecious attracted two precious metals companies.

“Informative – concise – right level of detail”
Goldmoney Wealth

“Very good insights in LME trading”
Port of Rotterdam Authority

“Topics well covered.  Very well explained”
Ensto Finland

Check out Upcoming Courses for currently scheduled dates and note that bookings are already building for the London May-17 course.

 

Booking open for 2017 dates

Booking has opened for 2017 London Metal Exchange courses run in conjunction with Euromoney Learning Solutions.  There are four London courses this year, as well as dates in Dubai and New York:

London: February, May, September and November*
New York: June
Dubai: March and December

The course gives a thorough overview of the workings of the LME and how to use both futures and options.

“Very informative and comprehensive course on the features of the LME and futures and options hedging. Very clear explanations, good pacing and all questions clearly answered”
ThyssenKrupp

“Very good, wide coverage that encapsulates a lot of detail on how the LME works and how customers will want to trade” Mitsui Bussan Commodities

“The course develops nicely and is easy to follow – very well structured” JOGMEC

Check out Upcoming Courses for exact dates and the link to register.

*The LME Week course is the most popular course so book early to ensure your place

Coffee anyone?

It was a full week at “The London School of Commodity Price Risk Management” last week.  The attendees were evenly split between energy and soft commodities and we gained many interesting insights into the physical coffee and cocoa markets. Several specific queries turned into ad-hoc workshops and case studies, such as using exchange for physical for pricing coffee contracts and dealing with refinery distillate off-take agreements with varying volumes and price floors.

“Very well scheduled, inclusive, personal” Integral Petroleum

Keep an eye on our schedule as 2017 dates are about to be announced.

Two nations divided by a common language

That quote is often attributed to either Oscar Wilde or George Bernard Shaw, and we certainly saw some of that division during the London Metal Exchange courses in New York last week.   Is it “a-loo-min-um” or “al-yoo-min-ee-um”?  We had a bit of fun trying out each other’s pronunciation of that metal in between the more serious aspects of learning about futures and options.

“Very well run.  Trainer very willing to take questions and tailor to class” PMC Organometallix

“Very thorough, very informative” Schupan & Sons

The last course for 2017 will be held in Dubai on 13-15 December.  There are still a few places remaining.  Check out Upcoming Courses for the link to register.

Capacity crowd during LME Week

Strong bookings for the LME week courses, run in partnership with Euromoney Learning Solutions, meant we ran an extra introductory day to cater for the numbers.  We enjoyed an excellent cross-section of participants from right across the value chain, from a large international diversified metal miner to chocolate companies buying aluminium products for  individual chocolate wrappers.

It was a demanding, dynamic group which peppered proceedings with questions.  Somehow we managed to cover the course materials and cater for many interesting deviations.

“A good insight to how the LME works – and how people use it” Danfoss

“Good balance of sticking to agenda and allowing questions” Trafigura

“Information is precise, well-structured, well explained”, MBR Metals

A two-day version of the course is running in New York next week and it’s not too late to register.  The last course of the year will take place in Dubai (13-15 December).  And keep an eye on the Upcoming Courses for 2017 which are due for release soon.

 

Just in time

Euromoney Learning Solutions, the LME’s training partner, have found the perfect venue nestled in the back streets of the City, just steps away from the exchange’s building on Finsbury Square.  The LME had been operating out of their business continuity locations for several weeks due to an issue with their headquarters.  Just the day before the course opened, we were delighted to hear that the ring had relocated back to Finsbury Square and we could view the live trading during the course.  Attending the afternoon kerb trading session is always a highlight of the London courses.

“Very good, wide coverage that encapsulates a lot of detail on how the LME works and how customers will want to trade” Mitsui Bussan Commodities

“Really informative, working through examples was very helpful” Marex Spectron

“Extremely polite and helpful trainer, goes the extra mile to make sure students/attendees understand and extract the best value” Arabian Khozam Holding

The course will return to London during LME week, and will also run in New York and Dubai. Check out Upcoming Courses for the full schedule.

I had this perfect dream …. Barcelona

 

It’s been almost 20 years since I last visited Barcelona, and I was staggered to see the amazing progress at the Sagrada Familia.  It was unlikely we could make such progress on commodity market knowledge in just two days, but a full course agenda went some way to shedding light on previously mysterious corners of the metals and energy markets.

The course got off to a lively start, and the workshops were tackled enthusiastically. A particular area of interest was working with gas formulae.  It was a stimulating and satisfying few days for all parties.

Barcelona

“The course was very balanced and complete”

“Concrete, interesting and practical”

“Well structured and very well built explanations and presentation”

“I needed to understand the world of commodities and the course it has been fantastic for that”