The auctions of aluminium ingots, alumina and copper cathodes by Qingdao Intermediate People's Court have ended this week, with Europe-based trading houses winning some of the listings, according to official auction documents from JD.com dated Friday August 23.
The significant quantity of metal was impounded in 2014 during a government crackdown over the misuse of collateral for financing metals in Qingdao. This week, the metals were listed for auction on Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com by the court. Inner Mongolia Huomeihongjun Aluminium Co won three shiploads of alumina, the official auction documents said. The auction started at 10am China standard time on Friday morning and ended at 10:29am, with the highest bid made by Inner Mongolia Huomeihongjun Aluminium Co at 129,524.822 yuan ($18,295) for 68,585.5 tonnes of imported alumina. Seven companies in total bid for the three cargoes which are located at Qiandao Dagang Port in a bonded zone. The winning price was more expensive than some market participants expected when compared with the current spot market, especially because drying and retreatment will cost about 200 yuan per tonne, according to an analyst source. "We feel...