§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will seek powers to control or limit speculative dealings in the London Metal Exchange.
§ Mr. KaufmanThe Government pay very close attention to the development of dealings on the London Metal Exchange, as also on the other commodity markets in London, and I am confident that our monitoring procedures are adequate to prevent abuses. The London Metal Exchange is a world market, which reflects world-wide changes in supply and demand. Pressures on LME prices, which in the case of copper had been particularly depressed, have recently been exceptional: they included the fall in the sterling exchange rate, which automatically raised LME quotations, and a strong flow of orders from industry for restocking.