Beijing’s aluminium mystery may be linked to US$1bil of financing

The traders at the centre of the case are barely known outside of Chinese commodities trading circles, and the inventories in question weren’t registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange, China’s biggest metals bourse, the sources said. File pic - Shanghai futures exchange.)

BEIJING: Loans related to the alleged over-pledging of aluminium inventories in China may total more than US$1bil (RM4.4bil), as scrutiny of the nation’s trading and warehousing operations spreads.

The lenders, most of which are state-owned and private traders and don’t include any banks, have at least seven billion yuan (RM4.6bil) of exposure to companies at the centre of the over-pledging allegations, according to sources.