Strengthening Partnerships: Deeper Collaboration Across Asia's Gold Markets
It’s almost impossible to overstate how important Asia is for the global gold market. India and China alone account for over 50% of global gold demand, not to mention the significant impact that Asian physical demand has on global gold prices. A surge in Indian or Chinese demand often leads to upward pressure on global prices, while conversely, import restrictions (like India’s import duties) can shift supply chains and drive changes in market premiums.
Asian central banks (like China, India, and Russia) have been recently increasing gold reserves as a hedge against the U.S. dollar and geopolitical risk. Meanwhile, regional exchanges such as the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SFE) and the new kid on the block, the Indian International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) are gaining prominence in shaping price discovery, market liquidity and driving innovation.
Singapore, firmly positioned as a key ASEAN hub, hosted the SBMA Conference in June—where market participants explored regional developments, including the launch of the ABAXX gold futures contract and the progressive liberalisation of Vietnam’s gold market. There was also strong interest in the SGE’s first offshore gold vault, now operational in Hong Kong and run by Bank of China (Hong Kong).
Clearly, Asia is not just a major consumer but a driving force shaping the future of the global gold ecosystem. Its influence spans pricing, trade flows, investment behaviour, and technological innovation, making it a vital region for strategic engagement.
Ruth Crowell, LBMA CEO
Asia Working Group: A Platform for Regional Progress
Building on our strategic partnerships with key market players and deepen our engagement with the region, we convened the inaugural meeting of LBMA’s Asia Working Group at the SBMA this June.
The conversations were insightful and energising, particularly around how we can better reflect the region’s reality – where kilobars are the standard – within our Gold Bar Integrity (GBI) initiative. The GBI ecosystem itself was prompted by the discovery of fraudulent kilobars in Asia, underscoring the urgent need to rebuild trust through greater traceability and integrity. It was encouraging to see strong consensus across refiners, banks, and logistics providers on the need to incorporate kilo bars more fully into our global integrity framework. What emerged was a clear desire for deeper collaboration, and a shared commitment to use technology to strengthen trust in the gold traded around the world.
Turning Member Feedback into Action
I was excited to see such strong interest in deeper regional collaboration – exactly what our Members asked for in last year’s survey. It’s great to see that feedback turning into action and helping us build even stronger partnerships and in region engagement. I’m also pleased to report that all of LBMA’s Good Delivery Refiners based in China are now onboard with our GBI initiative —an encouraging milestone in our pursuit of transparency and global integrity.
Looking Ahead to Kyoto
We are all looking forward to welcoming our friends from across the globe – and particularly from Japan and the wider Asia region – at our upcoming Conference in Kyoto in October. There we will meet again with the Asia Working Group to continue progress on making fully traceable kilo bars a reality.
I always find my engagement in these key market centres so inspiring and invigorating. In these uncertain times, communication, collaboration and global standards are more important than ever. While virtual tools like Teams/Zoom/Voov can help us stay in touch, nothing can replace the relationships built face to face.
I hope to see many of you in Kyoto.
Ruth Crowell
LBMA CEO
