London 08/10/2014 - The LME has won its appeal against Rusal at the UK's Court of Appeal, allowing the exchange to implement its new warehousing rules as planned.
Rusal has also been denied leave to appeal to the Supreme Court over the decision although the Russian aluminium producer has indicated that it will be seeking permission to appeal against the decision.
"We are very pleased to have won the judicial review on appeal and that the Court of Appeal has denied Rusal leave to appeal to the Supreme Court," the LME said in a notice on Wednesday. "We have believed from the start that Rusal's complaint was without merit, and are glad that the Court of Appeal has recognised this.
"As the world's leading base metals exchange, the LME has a duty to ensure the integrity of its reference prices and the operation of a fair and liquid market for all industry participants," it added. "To this end, the implementation of the proposed changes to the warehousing policy will take place as planned."
Under the rule change, all metal loaded into a warehouse over a three-month period is measured. If there is a queue of more than 50 calendar days, the affected warehouse would be expected to deliver out additional metal based on a formula.
Responding to the news, a spokesman for Rusal said: "Rusal continues to believe that the LME's consultation process was procedurally unfair, resulting in a decision which was neither fair, nor proportionate. Accordingly, it will be seeking permission to appeal the Court of Appeal's judgment to the Supreme Court."
The Court of Appeal's long summer break during August and September meant both parties have been awaiting a decision since July 30.
The LME will distribute a timetable for the implementation of the load-in/load-out policy shortly, it also said.
(Editing by Mark Shaw)