中國貿易商價值 2,000 萬美元的俄羅斯銅礦失踪

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Chinese Trader’s $20 Million Pile of Russian Copper Goes Missing

Alfred Cang and Jessica Zhou

Wed, June 12, 2024 at 5:51 p.m. PDT·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- A giant state-owned Chinese commodities trader is nursing losses after a shipment of copper from Russia worth nearly $20 million went missing, reigniting fears over fraud in the often-secretive market for buying and selling raw materials.

Wuchan Zhongda Group Co., which had sales of 580 billion yuan ($80 billion) in 2023, bought 2,000 tons of refined copper from a Russian smelter that should have been delivered last month. It never made it to port, according to people with knowledge of the incident.

Instead, the metal was listed as much cheaper granite and has likely ended up in Turkey, according to the records of the shipping line that handled the consignment, the people said, declining to be identified discussing a sensitive matter.

Staff from the Chinese company have visited Russia to investigate what happened, although they’ve been unable to determine where the smelter is even located, the people said.

Wuchan Zhongda, based in the eastern province of Zhejiang, declined to comment.

The episode, while unlikely to have global repercussions, is the latest blow to international metals trading and its reputation. The sector has repeatedly found itself tangled in scams, including tales of fake warehouse receipts and containers filled with painted rocks. Trading behemoth Trafigura Group last year fell foul of a missing metals scheme that cost the firm over half a billion dollars.

Favorable Terms

Russia is one of the world’s biggest copper suppliers and China is the largest consumer. Western sanctions imposed on Russian commodities in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine are expanding commerce between the two nations, with Chinese buyers enjoying discounts and other favorable payment terms to keep trade flowing.

The risk is that advantageous conditions at a time of high metal prices could tempt Chinese traders into deals when the relationship with the supplier isn’t well established. Now, Chinese firms rattled by the most recent incident have started conducting internal checks on their own contracts with counterparties, according to the people.

Wuchan Zhongda purchased the metal from a Russian producer called Regional Metallurgical Co. late last year, the people said. The shipment was due to be sold on to a local trader, a common practice in China where smaller merchants take advantage of the bank credit available to bigger rivals.

Cash copper on the London Metal Exchange last traded at $9,821 a ton, so at today’s prices the consignment would be worth nearly $20 million. Last year, China’s total imports of refined copper averaged more than 300,000 tons a month, for use across a variety of industries including construction, power transmission and clean energy.

The cargo left Saint Petersburg at the beginning of this year and was scheduled to arrive at the Chinese port of Ningbo in late May, the people said, after being rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid conflict in the Red Sea.

Translation

（彭博）— 中國一家大型國有大宗商品貿易商因從俄羅斯運來的價值近 2,000 萬美元的銅失踪而蒙受損失，再次引發人們對經常秘密的原材料買賣市場中存在欺詐行為的擔憂。

Wuchan Zhongda 集團有限公司 2023年銷售額為5,800億元人民幣（800億美元），從一家俄羅斯冶煉廠購買了2,000 噸精煉銅，而這些精煉銅本應在上個月交付。據知情人士透露，它從未抵達港口。

知情人士表示，根據處理這批貨物的航運公司的記錄，這種金屬被列為便宜得多的花崗岩，很可能最終運往土耳其。他們因討論敏感問題拒絕透露姓名。

知情人士稱，這家中國公司的工作人員已前往俄羅斯調查發生的情況，但他們連冶煉廠的具體位置也無法確定。

總部位於東部浙江省的 Wuchan Zhongda 拒絕置評。

這事件雖然不太可能產生全球影響，但卻是對國際金屬交易及其聲譽的最新打擊。該行業屢屢陷入騙局，包括偽造倉單和裝滿彩繪岩石的貨櫃的故事。貿易巨頭 Trafigura Group 去年因渉及金屬失踪騙局，導致該公司損失超過5億美元。

 

優惠條件

俄羅斯是世界上最大的銅供應國之一，中國是最大的消費國。烏克蘭入侵後西方對俄羅斯商品實施的製裁正在擴大兩國之間的貿易，中國買家享受折扣和其他有利的付款條件以保持貿易繼續。

風險在於，在與供應商的關係尚未建立良好的情況下，於高金屬價格時期的有利條件, 可能會吸引中國貿易商進行交易。知情人士稱，現在，因最近的事件而感到不安的中國公司已開始對自己與交易對手的合約進行內部檢查。

知情人士稱，Wuchan Zhongda 去年年底從一家名為 Regional Metallurgical Co. 的俄羅斯生產商購買了這種金屬。這批貨物原定出售給當地貿易商，這在中國是一種常見做法，小商人利用從銀行獲得通常只提供給較大的競爭對手的信貸。

倫敦金屬交易所的現貨銅最新交易價格為每噸 9,821 美元，因此以今天的價格計算，這批貨物的價值接近 2,000 萬美元。去年，中國精煉銅進口總量平均每月超過30萬噸，用於建築、電力傳輸和清潔能源等多個產業。

知情人士稱，這批貨物於今年初離開聖彼得堡，為避免紅海衝突而改道繞過好望角，原定於五月下旬抵達中國寧波港。

So, a giant state-owned Chinese commodities trader is nursing losses after a shipment of copper from Russia worth nearly $20 million went missing, reigniting fears over fraud in the often-secretive market for buying and selling raw materials. Cheating in business is common, in particular in those countries where the rule of law is not strictly upheld.