The base metals that trade on the London Metals Exchange include copper, aluminum, nickel, lead, zinc, and tin. The six nonferrous metals are building blocks for infrastructure with a myriad of applications. The LME is more than a futures exchange, the most liquid contracts that trade on the 144-year-old market are forwards. Instead of delivery months, market participants can make or take physical delivery of the metals each business day throughout the year. The flexibility of delivery is the reason that producers and consumers have flocked to the LME for almost one and one-half centuries.