Just over a year after the London Metal Exchange (LME) approved its first batch of warehouses in Hong Kong, the city now hosts 15 facilities run by seven operators, with close to 25,000 tonnes of metals stored.

It marks a triumph for both the LME and Hong Kong’s ambition to be a commodities trading hub. But the challenge is finding sufficient space to meet surging demand, said LME CEO Matthew Chamberlain in an interview on Thursday.

Chamberlain described it as a “very positive problem” – though one not easily solved.

What is the LME, and when did it set up warehouses in the city?

Founded 149 years ago, the LME is the world’s largest industrial metals trading centre. It was acquired by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing in 2012. Since then, the exchange has introduced a range of products in the city, but the warehouse network has been its most successful initiative.

Globally, LME-approved third-party operators run about 450 warehouses across the US, Europe and Asia, including Malaysia and South Korea, to store metals for investors and end users to trade or use to secure financing from banks.