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China looks at new anti-smuggling measures for indium

July 30, 2010 - 15:14 GMT Location: London

KEYWORDS: China , Japan , indium , import , export , Hong Kong , Janie Davies

China is examining new ways to crack down on indium smuggling after a large discrepancy between Chinese exports and Japanese imports of the minor metal hammered home the worrying scale of the problem, market participants told MB.

Official Chinese figures show 30.5 tonnes of indium was exported to Japan between January and May this year, but Japan imported 89.9 tonnes from China during the same period, according to its own official figures. “The balance, of course, is smuggled material; it’s huge. I daresay June [figures] won’t be any different,” a trader told MB. The Chinese government may even ask all domestic producers, including those with no export quota, to provide details...

All material subject to strictly enforced copyright laws. © Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC.

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