Henry Bath: Reduction in rents for LME Plastics Warehouse Storage

Henry Bath, the London Metal Exchange ("LME") licensed warehouse operator, has announced a large reduction in its maximum published rents for the storage of plastics held on LME Warrant, effective 5 January 2010.

Storage rents for Polypropylene (PP) and Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LL) are being reduced from the current rate of US Dollars 0.54 per tonne per day to US Dollars 0.22 per tonne per day at the Antwerp (Belgium) and Baton Rouge/Houston (USA) delivery locations, and to US Dollars 0.25 per tonne
per day at the Singapore (Singapore) and Gwangyang (South Korea) delivery locations.

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The new storage rents will be in line with the rents currently charged in the industry for bagged, palletised polymers stored privately off LME Warrant.

“These revised storage rents will allow market participants to hold polymer stocks in our LME licensed warehouse depositories on LME warrant at rents competitive with off-market private storage rents that are already being paid“, said Graham Hawkins, Group General Manager, Henry Bath.

“LME Warrant holders enjoy the additional benefits of being able to offer up their Warrants through their LME broker as good delivery against the LME plastics futures contracts at short notice, in return for prompt cash settlement for the full value of the stock, with minimal counterparty credit risk. Banks financing the inventory particularly like this benefit and often acknowledge the additional security and flexibility of holding collateralised stock on LME Warrant, with competitive rates of finance for their clients”, said Graham Hawkins.

Henry Bath branded LME Warrants are recognised by the major international banks as financeable documents, allowing LME Warrant holders to finance the physical stocks often at preferential interest rates with finance providers. The LME physical delivery mechanism allows market participants to deliver
Polypropylene (PP) and Linear Low-Density Polyethylene (LL) plastic stocks into LME approved warehouses, and receive the current LME traded Cash Price with immediate cash settlement through their LME broker, protected by the LME´s regulated environment. Approved as a Recognised Investment Exchange (“RIE”) and conforming with UK and other international regulatory requirements, the LME offers, through price and volume transparency and audit trails, a legally safe forum for metal and plastics trading. As an RIE, the Exchange comes under the direct jurisdiction of the UK Financial Services
Authority (“FSA”).

About Henry Bath
The Henry Bath Group is a world leading logistics provider specialising in the storage and shipping of Exchange-traded metals, plastics and soft commodities around the globe. Henry Bath operates in key port locations across the USA, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, providing customers with a global platform of Exchange-approved storage depositories for holding, making and taking delivery of physical commodity products. Henry Bath are licensed by the London Metal Exchange ("LME"), the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange ("NYSE Euronext.Liffe"), the Intercontinental Exchange ("ICE") and the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange ("DGCX") to store and issue Exchange-traded Warrants (bearer documents of title) for commodities including aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, tin, aluminium alloy, steel billets, cocoa, robusta coffee, arabica coffee and plastics.

About the London Metal Exchange
The London Metal Exchange is the world´s premier base metals market. It offers metals and plastics price risk management tools including futures and options contracts for aluminium, copper, tin, nickel, zinc, lead, aluminium alloy and NASAAC, steel billet, plastics and soon cobalt and molybdenum. Last year, the total notional value of contracts on the LME was $10.24trillion and the Exchange currently has 5.13m tonnes of metals on warrant in 516 warehouses across 38 locations globally.

More information: www.henrybath.com, www.lme.com

Henry Bath & Son Limited, Liverpool, UK

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