China's 1st precious metals spot exchange opens

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China's "Silver City" hopes to gain a voice in international precious metals trading through the new Hunan South Rare and Precious Metals Exchange.

Author: Dorothy Kosich
Posted: Wednesday , 29 Jun 2011

RENO, NV -

China's first precious metals spot exchange began trading Tuesday in Chengzhou in Hunan Province.

The Hunan South Rare Precious Metals Exchange is based in China's silver capital in Yongxing County. Its first four products to be listed are silver, bismuth, indium and tellurium.

Launched with a total investment of 260 million yuan (US$40.2 million), the exchange will offer long-term electronics transactions including spot trading, precious metal products and raw materials, and spot deferred transactions on up to 18 precious metals products. It will also provide financial consultation, pricing information, supply and demand, market research reports and business consultations relaying on an e-business information technology.

"The goal of the exchange is to achieve a total trading volume of 1 trillion yuan (US$155 billion) by the end of 2015. By then the exchange will contribute 1 billion yuan in taxes per year," said Cao Minghui, exchange general manager during the opening ceremony Tuesday.

An estimated 800 to 1,000 companies from Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Yongxing are expected to trade on the exchange. "We also hope the exchange will give Yongxing County a voice in the global precious metal market," Cao said.

"By launching such an exchange, China can solve the problems that have long plagued its precious metals industry, such as high logistics costs and lack of capital," Zhang Xiaojun, director of the Precious Metals Legal Commission, who provided legal advice to the exchange, told the Global Times.

Yongxing County is known as the silver capital of China because of its abundant silver reserves. It account for one fourth of China's total silver production, producing 2,050 metric tons of silver, 7.1 tonnes of gold, 4,300 tonnes of bismuth and 2.6 tonnes of platinum in 2010.