(Kitco News) China has significantly stepped up its gold purchases from Russia amid a Western ban on Russian gold following its invasion of Ukraine.
China imported $108.8 million worth of Russian gold in July. That is a 750% jump from the previous month’s total of $12.7 million and an increase of 4,800% from $2.2 million reported during the same month a year ago, Russian media RBC reported citing Chinese customs data. The data listed included raw and semi-finished forms of gold.
More buying from China comes after the U.S., Britain, Canada, Japan, the EU, and Switzerland banned Russian gold exports following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier in August, it was reported that Russia is looking into its own international standard for precious metals after getting banned by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). And it could have a fixed price in national currencies.
The country’s Finance Ministry said it was “critical” to create the new Moscow World Standard (MWS) to “normalize the functioning of the precious metals industry” and have an alternative to the LBMA.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the LBMA also suspended its accreditation of Russian precious metals refiners, barring them from selling new products in London. The suspension was made official on March 7.
According to the Finance Ministry, Russia was the second highest gold producer by volume in 2021, with gold output rising by 9% to 343 tons. The precious metals industry in Russia accounts for around $25 billion a year.