The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) announced on Tuesday that Shandong Gold Smelting Co. Ltd has been suspended from the LBMA's Gold and Silver Good Delivery Lists, with the suspension taking effect on Wednesday. The move follows the company’s addition to the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List.
The LBMA said it has initiated an incident review process related to Shandong Gold Smelting and described the suspension as an interim measure while that review proceeds. The organisation noted that the review will include consultations with a range of stakeholders and emphasized that it is pursuing what it called a transparent and rigorous approach. The LBMA added that it will provide further updates as the process unfolds.
In response, Shandong Gold Smelting Co. Ltd informed the LBMA that "it firmly rejects its inclusion on the UFLPA Entity List and welcomes a fair, independent and objective review by LBMA under the Good Delivery Rules and Responsible Sourcing Programme," according to the LBMA’s press release. The company’s statement, as provided to the LBMA, indicates disagreement with the U.S. listing and expresses support for an LBMA-led evaluation under its established frameworks.
The interim suspension removes Shandong Gold Smelting from the LBMA’s Good Delivery accreditation lists for both gold and silver while the incident review is underway. The LBMA’s Good Delivery Lists are the organisation’s formal registries of accredited refiners whose bars meet the LBMA’s specified standards for quality and provenance. The LBMA framed its decision as part of a procedural review rather than a final determination, signaling that the outcome will depend on the incident review process and associated stakeholder consultations.
Context limitations - The LBMA has not released further detail about the timeline or specific steps of the incident review beyond the statement that stakeholders will be consulted and updates will be provided in due course.