Hong Kong — The world's biggest gold producer and consumer China produced 190.28 mt (6.12 million oz) of gold in the first half of 2018, down 7.9% from a year earlier, according to statistics released by the China Gold Association on Tuesday.
Mined gold accounted for 84.9% of China's H1 gold output at 161.62 mt, down 9.4% on the year.
The remaining 28.66 mt was made up of gold produced as a by-product of base metals processing and this was up 2.1% year on year.
The government's environmental policies including withdrawal of mining rights in natural reserves as well as reforms on mining rights' transfer and royalty payment, led gold producers to curtail production, CGA said.
China's gold imports rose 74.9% on the year to 61.133 mt in H1, CGA said.
After taking into account the imports, overall Chinese nominal gold supply was up 4.1% on the year in H1 at 251.41 mt.
In 2017, China's gold output fell 6% on the year to 426.142 mt, the first annual decline since 2000.
China's gold consumption totaled 541.22 mt in H1, a mere 0.31% rise on the year, CGA data showed.
During the comparison periods, gold used in jewelry manufacturing rose 6.4% to 351.84 mt. The gain was offset by a 15.7% slump in the demand for gold bullion production to 133.61 mt.
Fueled by strong demand from the electronics industry, gold for industrial applications rose 13.8% on the year to 51.67 mt in H1.
