Chinese silver trading powerhouse eyes expansion in Singapore
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The commercial division of Henan Jinli Gold and Lead Group handled about half of China’s silver exports last year.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Singapore - The commercial division of Chinese private smelter Henan Jinli Gold and Lead Group is looking to expand its commodities trading team in Singapore, as the industry turns increasingly bullish on copper, aluminium and other metals.
The division, which handled about half of China’s silver exports in 2023, is aiming to hire more physical and derivative traders for industrial and precious metals, said Mr Eric Hu, general manager of the trading arm, in an interview in Singapore on May 10.
The company hopes to grow its trading team in Singapore from the current four to 15 to 20, said Mr Hu, a two-decade silver market veteran who currently leads a group of more than 100 metals traders and other staff across Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore.
“I know it is not easy and will take a long time as competition for talent is getting intensive,” he said.
Metals markets are being transformed by increasing demand from renewable energy installations and artificial intelligence as well as supply shortfalls. That is encouraging some of the world’s biggest energy traders to get more involved in metals, a sector that has been dominated by behemoths Glencore and Trafigura.
Jin Li Industrial International, the Chinese company’s Singapore subsidiary that officially started operations in October, has hired Mercuria Energy Group’s Noel Ruan and Citigroup’s Bruce Wang in the past six months, Mr Hu said. Both confirmed their own moves.
The company’s Hong Kong trading subsidiary sold about 2,000 tonnes of silver ingots from different smelters in China to overseas clients in 2023, including top bullion banks such as JPMorgan Chase. BLOOMBERG
