Sweepstake

So, another LME Dinner Week and another Minor Metals Sweepstake Lunch, which was again held at the Guinea Grill in London. At this worthy fixture on the calendar, diners are invited to predict MB’s minor metals prices for the following year. The closest prediction from the previous event secures everyone else’s £75 stake, but the “winner” must pay for the meal, the bill for which usually exceeds the pot of cash.

This year SFP Metals’ Stephen English had the dubious honour of winning. The results were unusually close, with a glimmer of fear in the eyes of some of those present before the victor was finally revealed.

As ever, next year’s result appears to be in the lap of the gods, with someone bound to fall victim to a plunging cobalt price or a bull run on cadmium. In case you wondered, Hotline was there merely as an observer – as the publisher of the prices, there could be a potential conflict of interest (more like a shortage in the wallet department. Ed.) Thanks, then, to organiser Howard Masters of Lambert Metals International for allowing us into this enduring occasion, and to English for graciously paying the bill.