METALOR’S NEW SUZHOU PLANT SIGNALS DEEPENING SINO-FOREIGN TIES IN PRECIOUS METALS REFINING

By WEIBIN DENG, Regional Head of Asia Pacific, World Platinum Investment Council

Suzhou Industrial Park drew a gathering of the global bullion world on 9 July, as Metalor Precious Metals (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. cut the ribbon on its new factory.

The ceremony itself was brief; the guest list was the real story. Alongside Chinese state and industrial-park officials sat some of the sector’s most senior figures: Ruth Crowell, CEO of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA); Trevor Raymond, CEO of the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC); Roland Wang, CEO of World Gold Council China; and representatives of the China Precious Metals Industry Committee (CPMIC).That guest list reflects how much weight the industry now places on China’s expanding role in global bullion refining.

Metalor Precious Metals is a joint venture between China National Arts & Crafts Group, a central state-owned enterprise, and Switzerland’s Metalor Technologies Group, which traces its refining roots back nearly 170 years.

Metalor Precious Metals is a joint venture between China National Arts & Crafts Group, a central state-owned enterprise, and Switzerland’s Metalor Technologies Group, which traces its refining roots back nearly 170 years. The Suzhou operation is the only foreign-branded refiner supplying standard gold bars to the Shanghai Gold Exchange, and holds Good Delivery accreditation from both the LBMA and the LPPM, the two bodies whose lists effectively determine which bars can move freely through the world’s major bullion markets.

Dr. Yuxing Shang, Executive Vice President of Metalor Technologies Group, told guests the new plant was the product of years of close work between the two shareholders, pairing Metalor’s refining technology and international brand with its Chinese partner’s state backing and market reach. “The completion and launch of the new facility embodies the strategic commitment of both shareholders, as well as the dedication of all employees”, he said.

Bernie Chen, Metalor Suzhou’s General Manager, pointed to what had actually changed. Guests touring the site afterwards saw fully automated production lines and refining processes he ranked among the industry’s best on capacity, purity and low-carbon efficiency, including zero wastewater discharge and full solid-waste utilisation, in line with China’s “dual carbon” targets. Looking ahead, he set out three priorities: pushing further into core refining and high-purity materials research to clear long-standing technical bottlenecks; deepening the plant’s environmental and compliance credentials; and building a closed-loop system spanning research, production, sales and recycling with its shareholders’ combined resources.

The visiting institutions used the occasion to make a broader point about where the industry is heading.

The visiting institutions used the occasion to make a broader point about where the industry is heading. Ruth Crowell called the plant “a significant milestone in Metalor’s commitment to China and global expansion”, noting its alignment with LBMA standards at a moment when the Association is also overseeing a shift in market infrastructure: from July 2026 . Currently, the global precious‑metals industry is reshaping amid green transition and high‑end upgrading. The LBMA will sustain global leadership by improving Good Delivery and responsible‑sourcing rules for a transparent, standardised market. Metalor will deepen cooperation with the LBMA via its new plant, delivering top‑tier products, boosting China’s value‑chain position and co‑building a resilient, credible industrial ecosystem.

Trevor Raymond CEO of WPIC give an address “without Metalor’s support, we couldn’t boom China platinum sales, now we are proud to say that China has been the world’s largest single market for platinum bar and coin investment since 2018, We will continue to work with our partners and new entrants to expand physical platinum ownership”. Furthermore, we will collaborate with Chinese banks and fund managers… to ensure that platinum accumulation plans and ETFs become additional choices for domestic investors. Our partnership with Metalor will stay at the heart of our future growth story and we look forward to our future collaboration in China and globally. We wish you every success on the opening of this magnificent facility and its strong role in the future of Metalor and indeed its role in the global precious metals markets.

Roland Wang struck a similar note on the gold side, calling the plant ‘an excellent benchmark case of deep integration, innovation and upgrading in the Sino-foreign precious metals industry’ and pointing to China’s position as, in his words, an engine behind much of the world’s gold industry innovation today. Under the WGC’s “Power of Gold” banner, he said, the Council would keep working with Metalor on data-sharing and research as the two sides deepen ties from this new base.

The clearest case for why the expansion matters came from Bian Jiang, Head of the Precious Metals Working Committee of the CPMIC, whose member companies span recycling, refining, deep processing and new-material research and development, and together account for roughly 85 percent of China’s platinum group metals recycling and refining market. He linked the new capacity directly to supply-chain security: high-purity PGM materials, he said, are increasingly critical inputs for new-energy, semiconductor and environmental-catalysis industries, sectors where China has been pushing hard to reduce its reliance on imported materials. A domestic plant capable of producing them at Good Delivery standard is, in other words, as much an industrial-policy story as a corporate one.

The WGC and the WPIC both described the global precious metals market as being in the middle of a broader restructuring, with green transformation and high-end manufacturing becoming the industry’s defining trends worldwide. Metalor Suzhou’s expansion is one data point in that shift: another node of Good Delivery-standard refining capacity inside China, arriving as Beijing works to secure high-end material supply chains and international bodies extend consistent standards further into the region. The company said it intends to use the new plant as a platform for exactly that, deepening cooperation with its shareholders and industry partners on standards, responsible sourcing and green production as the sector continues to consolidate around fewer, larger, more tightly regulated players.