Russia increased its gold sales to China. In kind, Moscow shipped 2.16 tons to Beijing in October this year, which is more than double that of the same period last year. Reported by RBC with reference to data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China. We are talking about both raw and semi-finished forms of gold.
In monetary terms, the supply also doubled, reaching $124.6 million. This is the largest gold supply since at least 2016, according to monthly statistics from China.
In the January-October period of this year, exports of raw or semi-processed gold from Russia to China amounted to 5.72 tons, almost twice as much as in the same period of 2021. As for monetary terms, here too the volumes increased – 1.8 times, reaching $ 330 million.
But despite this, Moscow is an insignificant supplier of this precious metal in the Chinese market.
For example, in the same period (January-October), Switzerland transferred 26.5 billion dollars worth of gold to China, Canada – 9.7 billion dollars, South Africa – 7.7 billion dollars, Australia – 7.2 billion dollars, Hong Kong – 2.5 billion dollars sent to Germany. 775 million dollars.
RBC states that according to the Federal Customs Service, in 2021 Russia shipped 302.17 tons of gold to different countries. According to a document read by the publication, only 3.98 tons of them were delivered to China.
Sergey Kashuba, President of the Russian Gold Producers Association, said that they talked about the export of gold concentrate for processing in China. The expert explained that the processing of a number of refractory gold ores in Russia is unprofitable, so the export of this type of concentrate goes to China.
Kashuba also claims that supplies have increased due to stockpiles accumulating in suppliers’ warehouses during the coronavirus restrictions. In this case, according to him, there is no doubt that Russia transported gold, which it had previously supplied to the West as bullion, to China.
Some countries have imposed sanctions on Russian gold due to Russia’s launch of special operations in Ukraine.
The U.S., along with the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, are imposing restrictions on Russian gold, the country’s largest non-energy exports, as announced at the G7 summit, the Treasury Department said on June 28.
In March, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), which keeps track of world-renowned gold suppliers, suspended the Good Delivery status of Russian gold-processing refineries. In 2021 alone, the Russian federal budget earned £12.6 billion (about $15.45 billion) from supplies, as noted in the UK.