Russian gold floods Hong Kong as Western sanctions redraw bullion trade — SkimNews
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- Hong Kong imported 112.7 tonnes of Russian-origin gold in the first seven months of 2026, topping 2025's full-year record of 92.1 tonnes and dwarfing the 3.3 tonnes imported in 2021, according to BullionVault's analysis of Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department data.
- Russian bullion accounted for almost 15% of Hong Kong's non-monetary gold imports in the first seven months of 2026, up from 0.6% in 2021.
- The London Bullion Market Association suspended all six Russian gold and silver refiners from its Good Delivery lists in March 2022, after which the U.S., U.K. and other Western countries imposed restrictions that closed off markets that had absorbed roughly two-thirds of Russia's mine production between 2019 and 2021.
- Most of the Russian gold flowing through Hong Kong is bound for mainland China, which has not sanctioned Russian gold and is the world's largest gold consumer, per Vita Spivak of Gatehouse Advisory Partners.
- China has designated gold a 'strategic mineral' and the People's Bank of China added more than 40 tonnes to its reserves in the first half of 2026 — more than double the amount purchased in the prior year's first half, according to S&P Global.
- Hong Kong is roughly six months ahead of rival Singapore in bullion infrastructure and serves as a gateway into mainland China, per StoneX's Rhona O'Connell.
Why it matters: Russia lost roughly two-thirds of its mine-production worth of gold exports to the UK after the LBMA expelled six Russian refiners in March 2022, and Hong Kong has absorbed that rerouted volume while China's PBOC added over 40 tonnes in H1 2026 — more than double a year earlier.
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