HONG KONG (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) is exploring the possibility of listing Hong Kong as an LME warehouse location, the chief executive of its bourse, Bonnie Chan, said on Thursday.

"We recently commissioned a third party feasibility study on this idea and we have been receiving great support from the local market," said Chan, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

Registering warehouses in China, the world's largest consumer of industrial metals, to store metal traded on the LME has been a strategic aim since Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) bought the LME in 2012 for $2.2 billion.

"LME warehouses in Hong Kong could strengthen the link between mainland physical metals markets and international pricing on the LME, create more market arbitrage opportunities, close gaps in delivery networks and improve logistics costs with road connectivity to southern China," she added.

Chan, speaking at an LMEWeek Asia event in Hong Kong, did not give a timeline for any developments but said the market should "stay tuned".

(Reporting by Mai Nguyen and Siyi Liu in Hong Kong. Writing by Melanie Burton in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill and Himani Sarkar)

By Mai Nguyen and Siyi Liu