The London Metal Exchange (LME), the world's top market for industrial metals that has had surging volumes recently, is considering selling itself after being approached about deals, it said.

The LME, owned by trading houses and banks that use the market, said it was being advised by investment bank Moelis & Company but declined to identify its suitors.

'The LME has received several expressions of interest with regard to potential strategic transactions,' a statement said.

'The board...will begin a formal process which may or may not lead to an acceptable offer for the company being received.'

The exchange, the last bastion of mutual ownership among financial exchanges, said it would launch a formal process but warned it might not result in an offer for the company.

The interest shown in the LME, where total trading volumes are currently at record levels, reflects the importance of the exchange in global commodities markets.

'We have built a modern, innovative and successful exchange vital to those companies that own it and use it every day,' Abbott said in a statement.

'The LME's future as the world's leading metal exchange is more secure today than at any point in its 130 year history.'

The LME said it accounts for 80 per cent of traded volume in global metal futures transactions and LME prices are used worldwide by miners and consumers every day.