Valcambi Gold Refinery Plan Boosts Hong Kong’s Bullion Hub Drive

(Bloomberg) — Valcambi SA, one of the world’s largest gold refiners, plans to open a new plant in Hong Kong, bolstering the city’s push to become a global bullion hub.

The Swiss firm signed a letter of intent with Hong Kong’s sole steelmaker Shiu Wing Steel to establish a new precious metals refining company that will also provide vaulting services.

“Asia is a key market for the precious metals industry and will continue to play an increasingly important role in its future,” Simone Knobloch, chief executive officer of Valcambi, said in a press release on Thursday.

Valcambi’s move comes as Hong Kong vies with Singapore to develop Asia’s premier gold trading center. On Tuesday, Hong Kong’s secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau Christopher Hui used an annual industry gathering in Italy to pitch plans to expand the city’s gold sector.

“Our focus right now is really to get the infrastructure right, where we ensure that that our system is robust and, at the same time, credible in such a way that we continue to draw investors’ interest to participate,” Hui said in an interview on the sidelines of the London Bullion Market Association’s conference in Sorrento.

This week, Hui toured Valcambi’s Swiss facility, as well as those of other major refiners including MKS PAMP SA and Argor-Heraeus SA. The new refinery, Valcambi’s first outside Switzerland, will be located in Shiu Wing Steel’s plant in northwest Hong Kong.

As part of Hong Kong’s initiative, it launched trial operations of a gold clearing system in July, along with a new price benchmark, and has secured the participation from the biggest Chinese banks and major international bullion banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC Holdings Plc. It’s also planning to launch yuan-priced gold futures, while exploring more preferential policies for gold traders.

Hong Kong is taking a “whole-value-chain approach,” said Hui. “Like London, we have storage, we have OTC contract; like Switzerland, we want to have refineries; like the US, we want to have gold futures.”

Developing Hong Kong’s gold market is a top priority before his official term finishes at the end of June, Hui said. Last month, gold was highlighted in the city’s first ever five-year plan, with bullion seen as “an entry point” for expanding the Chinese yuan’s usage in global markets.

–With assistance from Jack Ryan.

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