The trial trading of platinum carried out on the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) last Wednesday (July 30th) has been judged a success, according to the Xinhua news agency.

At closing, the price of platinum was slightly higher than that recorded on the international market, said Gu Wenshuo, general manager of general affairs at the exchange.

Twenty seven members of the exchange participated in the trade, he said, of a total of 170 kg of the precious metal.

It sold at $22.9 per gram, with transactions worth $3.9 million completed by the end of the day.

For the last three years, Chinese platinum consumption has exceeded $2 billion of the metal annually, the world's highest total, but lacks resources of its own, which means that ninety per cent of the country's platinum is imported.

Mr Gu said that formal trading of platinum at the exchange is expected to begin some time in September.