Silver News

Shanghai White Platinum & Silver Exchange Opens

China’s first spec-ialized silver ex-change opened in July in Shaghai, a move to meet the demands of the country’s fast growing silver industry.

The Shanghai White Platinum & Silver Exchange (SWPSE) is modeled on the former Shanghai-based Huatong Nonferrous Metal Wholesale Market, and follows the establishment of the state-level gold and diamond exchanges.   In a public forum, SWPSE Chief Executive Li Wenfeng said the new exchange aims to provide "more professional trade services" and to become an “authoritative information center” for the domestic silver industry. So far, more than 50 domestic institutions and companies have been given licenses to trade on the exchange.

Senior officials noted that the exchange could begin trading platinum if approved by the central authority, a move which is expected although no time frame was given. “Currently, we want to focus our attention on silver,” one official noted.

The exchange is a logical outgrowth of China opening its silver market in 2000 when the Shanghai-based Huatong market became the country’s only officially sanctioned trading institution. It has been trading silver and other metals -- including aluminum, copper and zinc -- for the past 3-1/2 years.

China's silver production had risen over the past ten years, with year-over-year increases of more than 9.5 per cent, according to Chen Haoran, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters. In 2002 the country’s silver production reached 2,220 tons, or about 10 per cent of the world's total silver trading volume. China ranks fifth in production after Mexico, Peru, Australia and the United States.

During the first half of 2003, silver exports topped 1,720 tons, compared with only 260 tons in 2000. The chamber estimates that the nation’s ore reserves may be more than 115,000 tons, ranking it sixth in the world.

Silver News - Third Quarter 2003