The Metal Market is getting a new look.
Vanguard, a major metal trading platform, announced Wednesday it will open a new metal trading center in Dallas, the first to offer retail trading and wholesale trading of metals on the platform.
The new center will be called Metal Market Dallas.
Vanguard CEO and Chairman Doug Langer told analysts at a conference that the new center is designed to help the company reach the growing market for metals in Dallas.
“Metal markets are very important to us,” Langer said.
“We’re not just going to be a one-stop-shop, and we’re not going to have a one size fits all.
This is going to change that.”
The move is the latest example of a major company opening a new facility to focus on growing its business.
Last year, Goldman Sachs opened a new headquarters in Dallas to become the largest trading hub for gold and silver on the planet.
Other major firms such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are also opening new facilities to grow their trading operations.
Vanguard said the new location will be located in Dallas near the University of Texas, where the company has invested heavily in research and development.
The company said the move will allow it to “continue its aggressive expansion of our global trading and institutional metals market.”
VANGUARD HAS BEEN STRUGGLING TO MATCH The company announced earlier this month that it would be shutting down its physical trading platform and trading desk in Houston.
The company’s move comes as metals trading has become a hot commodity.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission issued an order blocking Vanguard from using the London Intercontinental Exchange (London-based EMA) market for trading metals.
Volatility has risen dramatically since March after Vanguard suspended its physical metal trading operation, which led to the largest spike in metals prices on record.
Langer said Wednesday that the company is working to increase its trading capacity and “add to the trading floor as soon as possible.”
“It’s time for the market to have more choice, to have better liquidity and better transparency,” he said.