China Continues to Increase Gold Reserves, While Base Metals Face Mixed Fortunes

Metals – China's gold reserve increase further

China increased its gold reserves for a tenth straight month in August. The latest official data shows that the People’s Bank of China raised its gold reserves by about 29t to a total of 2,165t last month. China has bought around 217t of gold since last November.

Preliminary trade data from China yesterday shows that total monthly imports for unwrought copper fell 5% YoY to 473.3kt in August, as demand remains weak while domestic production ramps up. This leaves unwrought copper imports at 3.51mt over the first eight months of the year, down 10% YoY. In contrast, imports of copper concentrate rose 18.8% YoY to a record 2.7mt last month as strong domestic output lifted raw material demand. This leaves year-to-date imports at 18.1mt, up 9% YoY. In ferrous metals, iron ore imports rose 10.6% YoY to 106.4mt in August - the highest level this year. Cumulative imports grew 7.4% YoY to 775.6mt over the first eight months of the year. On the export side, China’s unwrought aluminium and aluminium product shipments fell 9.3% YoY to 490kt last month, whilst year-to-date exports declined 19.4% YoY to 3.8mt. Steel product exports remain strong, reflecting weaker domestic demand. Cumulative steel product exports are up 28.4% YoY to total 58.8mt so far this year.