LONDON (Commodity Online): The Chinese September trade data for precious metals were mixed with a continued recovery in PGM imports and a sustained decline in silver appetite, said Barclays Capital in a reserch note.
Silver imports in China fell by 39% y/y and 16% m/m to 264.7 tonnes, the lowest level since February, while silver exports declined by 44% y/y to 83.5 tonnes, keeping China a net importer of the metal for two consecutive years on a monthly basis.
Although the trade data can vary significantly month by month, a couple of themes have remained constant. Firstly, despite China’s healthy silver production numbers, it remains a net importer of silver, and, secondly, much of this growth has been driven by the photovoltaic cell manufacturing sector, bank said.
On a product basis, silver powder, unwrought silver, semi-manufactured silver, and silver jewellery all declined y/y in September with the latter two products suffering the steepest decline and silver powder only falling by 4% y/y. Indeed, silver powder is the only product that has grown for the year-to-date.
