The following lists official notifications from the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration on metal auctions as well as China's private sales over the past decade as reported by Reuters:
Time Product Offer Sales Average Winner Comment
Volume Volume Price s of
Bid
2005 Copper 20,000 20,054 37,986.60 38 Auction on Nov.16; Each bidder with no more
firms than 1,000 T; 54 firms participated in the
bidding.
2005 Copper 20,000 13,385 37,542.60 34 Auction on Nov.23; Each bidder with no more
firms than 1,000 T; 49 firms participated in the
bidding.
2005 Copper 20,000 13,960 37,758.80 28 Auction on Nov.30; Each bidder with no more
firms than 1,000 T; 33 firms participated in the
bidding.
2005 Copper 20,000 3,761.70 38,921.43 11 Auction on Dec.7;Each bidder with no more than
firms 1,000 T; 30 firms participated in the bidding.
2010 Aluminium 96,000 95,766.93 15,343 21 Auction on Nov.1-2; Results announced on
firms Nov.8; 23 firms participated.
2010 Aluminium 117,00 117,671.9 15,395 42 Auction on Nov.23-24; Results announced on
0 3 firms Nov.29; 48 firms participated.
2010 Zinc 50,000 49,992.97 19,511 19 Auction on Nov.9; Results announced on Nov.12;
firms 37 firms participated.
2010 Lead 34,500 16,535.36 17,030 11 Auction on Nov.16; Results announced on
firms Nov.18; 14 firms were there.
2010 Magnesium 3,000 2,739.74 15,087 7 Auction on Oct.19; Results announced on
firms Oct.20; 8 firms participated.
2010 Steel 27,000 24,800 3,000 ~ 17 Auction on May.20; Results announced on June
products 16,000 firms 2; 18 types of steel products were sold; 26
firms were there.
2021 Copper 20,000 20,000 67,700* NA All sold on July 5.
2021 Aluminium 50,000 50,000 18,075* NA All sold on July 5.
2021 Zinc 30,000 30,000 21,000* NA All sold on July 5.
2021 Copper 30,000 Auction on July 29
2021 Aluminium 90,000 Auction on July 29
2021 Zinc 50,000 Auction on July 29
Note: The offer volume and sales volume were in tonnes. Average sales prices were in yuan per tonne.*Average price in July 2021 auctions according to sources. No prices officially announced.
The table below has details of non-public copper sales from reserves over the years.
Time Product Sales Volume (in Comment
tonnes)
2004 Copper 59,000 (unconfirmed) The SRB was reported to have offered to sell 59,000 T of
copper according to a May 13 Reuters report.
2005 Copper 10,000(unconfirmed) In May Reuters reported SRB was releasing 10,000 T of refined
copper to ease supply tightness, traders said.
2009 Copper 50,000(unconfirmed) Reuters reported the SRB had been selling a small volume of
its contracted copper imports and might sell up to 50,000
tonnes, according to sources. https://reut.rs/3qkh9Gj
2014 Copper 200,000(unconfirmed) A source told Reuters that the SRB was planning to sell about
200,000 T of old copper stocks. https://reut.rs/2UpjKmt
Below are some of the private purchases by the state stockpiler over the years.
Time Product Purchase Price Winners Comment
Volume
2008 Aluminium 300,000(unconf 12,300 6-7 Sources said SRB agreed to buy 300,000 T of
irmed) firms aluminium, with around half from Chinalco.
unconfi ( https://reut.rs/2SjgNmQ
rmed)
2008 Indium 30 Unknown Unknown SRB bought 30 T in December and was expected
to buy more. https://reut.rs/3xDWuPY
2008 Aluminium, Unknown Unknown Unknown In December 2008 SRB said it planned to buy
Copper, Lead 1 million T of aluminium, 400,000 T of
and Zinc copper and total of 400,000 T of lead and
zinc from domestic smelters over three
years.
2009 Copper 300,000 Unknown Unknown The SRB was believed to have contracted
(unco
nfirmed) 300,000 T of foreign refined copper. https://reut.rs/3wPqgkJ
2009 Zinc 100,000 11,450-11,500 Unknown Sources said SRB also planned to buy another
100,000 T in the second quarter, with eight
smelters keen to sell. https://reut.rs/3zRgwsc
2009 Nickel Unknown
Unknown Unknown SRB may buy 10,000 to 20,000 T of nickel. https://reut.rs/3dnI7rF
2009 Aluminium 290,000 12,490-12,500 Unknown In February, Reuters reported that SRB
bought 290,000 T of the primary aluminium
from local smelters,with 140,000 T of the
volumes from Chinalco, the parent of
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) 2600.HK
601600.SS.
2009 Zinc 59,0
00 11,800 7 firms The SRB agreed to buy refined zinc. https://reut.rs/3xPryN3
(unconfirmed)
2008-2009 Zinc 300,000 Unknown Unknown SRB expected to by 300,000 T from smelters
(unconfirmed) like Yunnan Luping Zinc and Yunnan Chihong
Zinc. https://reut.rs/3xDWuPY
2009-2011 Copper Unknown Unknown Unknown SRB may have bought between 500,000-750,000T
from international and domestic sellers in
the three year period
2012 Aluminium 100,000 15,730-15,760 Unknown The SRB initially planned to buy 160,000 T.
(https://bit.ly/3xBnsIa)
2012 Zinc 100,000 15,980-16,010 Unknown Initial target was at 150,000 tonnes. (https://bit.ly/3xEI5mA)
2013 Copper and Unknown Unknown Unknown The SRB was reported to be planning to buy
Nickel 300,000 T of copper and 100,000-150,000 T of
nickel in 2014. https://bit.ly/3gMvmbV
2013 Nickel 30,000 Unknown Unknown SRB bought 30,000 T of nickel imports. The
military also bought metal from
international markets.
2013 Germanium 30 12,090 yuan Unknown China has bought nearly a quarter of global
per kg production of the material used in fibre
optics and semiconductors, traders said. https://reut.rs/35Ze3yt
2014 Molybdenum 2,700 1,400-1,450 Unknown The molybdenum tender was the first in about
oxide yuan per one two decades and the SRB was expected to buy
percent of another 2,3000 of minor metal, according to
metal sources. https://reut.rs/3xxPC6T
contained
2014 Cobalt 100-200 $15.70/lb Unknown The state stockpiler had tendered for 1,000
tonnes. https://reut.rs/3xxPC6T
2014 Copper around 200,000 Unknown Unknown A source said the SRB had secured up to
350,000 bonded copper, according to Reuters
report. https://reut.rs/35PpdW4
2015 Aluminium more than 1 Unknown Unknown SRB was considering buying more than 1
mln million T of aluminium to support its local
(unconfirmed) smelters. This was after China Nonferrous
Metals Industry Association suggested that
the state buys 900,000 T of aluminium,
30,000 T of refined nickel, 40 T of indium,
and 400,000 T of zinc. https://reut.rs/2U0efL6reut.rs/3vRp2Ei)
2016 Antimony 7,500(unconfir Unknown 4 firms In an October story, Reuters reported the
med) SRB had recently bought refined antimony
ingots from four local producers, according
to traders.
2016 Copper 150,000 Unknown Unknown Sources told Reuters China planned to buy as
(unconfirmed) much as 150,000 T of copper. SRB had invited
at least one smelter to sell in a tender. https://reut.rs/3zMNkTf
2017 Cobalt up to 5,000 Unknown Unknown The SRB was said to have bought 5,000 T of
unconfirmed) cobalt in H1. ( https://reut.rs/3gYXEyP
2020 Cobalt 2,000(unconfir Unknown Unknown Jinchuan was reported to be supplying a
med) third of China's purchase volume. Traders
said state stockpiles were between
5,000-7,000T. https://reut.rs/3qjbrog
* The purchase volume were in tonnes. Average purchase prices were in yuan per tonne unless otherwise specified.
(Additional reporting by Tom Daly; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
By Shivani Singh and Min Zhang