Hong Kong International Airport expands precious metals depository

To support the city’s development as an international gold trading hub, the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) plans to expand the Precious Metals Depository at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to a capacity of 1,000 tonnes.

As the Precious Metals Depository is reaching its full capacity amid fast-growing market demand, AAHK announced Monday that it will expand the Depository in phases.

The first phase will be increasing the capacity from 150 tonnes to 200 tonnes at its existing facility. It added that the vaulting capacity will be subsequently expanded by multiple times up to 1,000 tonnes, with room for further development. 

AAHK said it will work closely with the government and market stakeholders on utilizing the new facility for the best interest of the economy.

The Precious Metals Depository has operated since 2009 to facilitate physical bullion trading and settlement activities. It has provided secure storage and physical settlement services to central banks, commodity exchanges, bullion banks, precious metal refineries and issuers of exchange traded funds (ETF), etc.