The number of lawsuits faced by the London Metal Exchange over its warehousing processes has reached 18 and is expected to rise further, the exchange's parent company Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing said today.

The disclosure, which was made as part of the HKEx's third-quarter financial results, follows previous statements in August in which the HKEx revealed that four class action lawsuits had been filed in the US against the LME alleging anti-competitive and monopolistic behaviour in the warehousing industry in connection with aluminium prices.