Chinese Traders Find Aluminum Stocks They Financed May Not Exist
- Traders couldn’t confirm aluminum holdings they lent against
- Commodities firms have faced tougher financing environment
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Several Chinese traders are complaining that they were duped into providing loans against artificially inflated aluminum stockpiles, less than a decade after the market was roiled by a similar scandal on a much bigger scale.
At least three companies lent a total of more than 500 million yuan ($75 million) against stockpiles of the metal stored in a warehouse in the southern province of Guangdong that turned out to be worth significantly less than that, according to people with knowledge of the matter. They asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to the media.