Dubai: The London Metal Exchange (LME) adds Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia to its approved list of locations for copper and zinc storage.
Jeddah would become an active delivery point three months after the first warehouse company in the area is approved. The number of warehouses currently under consideration was not disclosed.
The LME, the world’s largest and oldest metals exchange, has around 450 approved warehouses across 14 countries, with leading storage locations in South Korea, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.
Currently, the only Middle Eastern storage locations are three warehouses in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in the UAE.
While the LME has not announced plans to include aluminium among the approved storage materials in Jeddah, the Gulf Aluminium Council reports that Gulf countries contributed approximately 9 per cent of global aluminium production in 2023.
Saudi Arabia aims to establish itself as the Middle East’s primary logistics hub, having launched a national logistics plan last year.
In support of this goal, Dubai-based DP World has begun constructing a $250 million (Dh918 million) logistics park for storage and distribution at Jeddah Islamic Port.
