China`s ore demand flies under the radar
A boatload of sandy, gray muck set out from Alaska a week ago, bound for China. Buried inside the detritus were tiny flecks of gold that China National Gold Group Corp. plans to extract.
The shipment is one of many filled with mineral-rich matter that are sailing into Chinese ports and forming a key, but little-noticed, part of efforts to sate the nation`s demand for raw materials.
Coeur d`Alene Mines produces gold concentrate at a plant near Juneau, Alaska, above. The plant processes ore, shown on the left in the inset, to make the concentrate, shown on the right.
The Alaskan gold won`t appear in China`s official imports report or in trade data from major commodity exchanges or bullion markets. China`s purchases of copper scrap and investments in oil-sands projects in Canada also fly under the radar, publicly disclosed but not widely watched.
Observers say the low-grade ore making its way to China`s shores adds to evidence that Chinese demand for raw materials is greater than standard indicators show, and greater than many investors realize.
Investors instead closely track China`s consumption of widely sought commodities, like gold bullion, refined copper and crude oil. Signs that its hunger is rising or falling can move those markets, and help define its broader economic growth.
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