China Gold Output in 1H Dropped 10.18% Year on Year While Consumption Increased 69.21%

SHANGHAI, Aug 4 (SMM) - According to the latest statistics from the China Gold Association, in 1H 2021, domestic raw material gold production was 152.75 mt, a decrease of 17.32 mt compared with the same period in 2020, down 10.18% year-on-year, among which 122.72 mt were mineral gold from mines and 30.03 mt were by-product gold from non-ferrous products. The supply of imported gold raw materials increased steadily, with 52.19 mt of gold produced from imported raw materials, up 9.33% year-on-year. In general, the country produced a total of 204.94 mt of gold, down 5.90% year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, affected by two safety accidents in Yantai at the beginning of the year, non-coal mines in Shandong Province suspended production since February and underwent a major safety inspection, which was the main reason for the decline in gold production in the first half of the year.

In the same period, the country's actual gold consumption was 547.05 mt, an increase of 69.21% compared to the same period in 2020 and 4.49% compared to the same period in 2019 before the epidemic. Specifically, the overall consumption constituted of 348.56 mt of gold jewellery, up 67.68% year-on-year; 151.10 mt of bars and coins, up 96.28% year-on-year; and 47.39 mt of gold for industrial and other applications, up 23.28% year-on-year. Gold consumption rebounded sharply in the first half of the year from a lower base caused by pandemic. Benefiting from the booming demand for new energy vehicles and electronic products, the demand for industrial gold continues to grow steadily.

In the first half of 2021, the cumulative turnover of all gold varieties on the Shanghai Gold Exchange was 18,400 mt bilaterally (9200 mt unilaterally), down 45.46% year-on-year, with a bilateral turnover of 6.96 trillion yuan (3.48 trillion yuan unilaterally), down 44.02% year-on-year; the cumulative turnover of all gold varieties on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 50,600 mt bilaterally (25,300 mt unilaterally) The cumulative turnover of all gold varieties on the Shanghai Futures Exchange increased by 17.57% year-on-year, and the bilateral turnover was RMB17.89 trillion (RMB8.95 trillion unilaterally), up 16.18% year-on-year. In the first half of the year, domestic gold ETFs increased their holdings by 7.76 mt, and by the end of June, domestic gold ETFs held a position of about 68.67 mt.